The Dragon Games
by rent-serenity
Summary: D:H Ship. Enter into the Game of the Dragon, a game that tests abilities, friendships and trust. The game has high stakes and it’s all or nothing for both Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter as they seek to win what they’re both searching for.
1. Back Again

**Author's Message:**

Thanks to my Beta Priscilla, she's wonderful and helped me better this story.

**Chapter One**

The train slowly came to a halt on the Hogwarts grounds; the doors were opening and students were pilling out, being greeted by a giant bearded man with a lantern, and carriages drawn by invisible beasts.

The giant was calling out, "First years over here!"

And the timid first years came.

The rest of the group was a much more confident looking group of students of various ages. Three of which included a frizzy brown-haired witch who was accompanied by a flaming-haired, freckled tall boy and a blonde-haired girl, looking kooky as could be with mismatching earrings and outfit to match.

"Harry?" the brown-haired witch called back onto the train. "I'm telling you he's not here, you got your calculations wrong and we shouldn't be here at all."

"Hermione, could you shut up for even a moment?" the red head asked.

"No Ronald, I can not when Harry is being a-"

A messy blacked haired boy in glasses covering his emerald green eyes interrupted, "Hermione, this is my decision, and though we didn't plan it, it is happening, so don't be all in a fret about it."

"I'm trying not to, Harry, but think about it, what good is this going to do?"

"It's a little late to turn back now, Hermione," the blonde girl stated in a misty voice.

"Luna's right, Hermione, drop it already," Ron muttered.

"I will not drop it!" Hermione hissed.

"Drop it Hermione, I know we weren't supposed to be back here, but now we are, because the circumstances forced it to be," Harry muttered.

"I still don't get it, Harry, what circumstances?" Luna asked.

Ron and Hermione gazed up at him with curiosity as well.

"I've explained already," Harry said, climbing into a carriage.

The three followed in after him.

"What? That half-wit story about secret information being leaked out by some anonymous source," Ron said. "Cut the crap, Harry, we know something more is going on, tell us."

"That's it, I got a tip that's all," Harry said.

"The tip said to go back to Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"The tip said I would find the answers I was seeking here," Harry said.

"But anyone could have sent that note, Harry; even Crezlers have been known to send tricksey tips to people," Luna said.

"Luna, Crezlers don't deal with people, they live in hiding," Hermione said knowledgably.

"All the more reason for them to get people away, and send them on a false treasure hunt," Luna said pointedly.

"Listen guys, I'll explain more when I'm ready to, okay?" Harry stated.

Harry wished they would just leave him alone about it already; it was his mess to deal with after all.

"So there is more?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but I'm not ready to disclose it until I understand better, so drop it," Harry said.

Harry had made up his minds that his friends were not ready to handle what was going on. Sure, he had told them a few things about the situation, but not about the letter, and what information he had really learned inside. He checked his pocket quickly to make sure it was still there. It was.

Harry glanced out the carriage window, surveying the other carriages.

"How can Malfoy really be back?" Hermione asked Harry.

"I dunno," Harry said.

Harry was uncertain about Malfoy's return, but he knew it wasn't too far fetched to think he wouldn't be in hiding for good. But to come back to Hogwarts? That was just lunacy. After what happened, how could Malfoy dare to show himself? Did he even think for a moment that Harry wouldn't get revenge?

"Harry, what are we going to do if we find him?" Ron asked suddenly, a quiver of fear in his voice.

"_We _do absolutely nothing," Harry said clearly. "I'll take care of it."

"But Harry! What are you going to do?" Luna asked.

"I'll take care of it."

"How?" Hermione questioned. "Surely not by killing him, Harry, you can't become a murderer."

"I'm not going to kill him, Hermione," Harry said bluntly.

However, Harry really didn't know if that statement was true. All summer the only thing he could think of was to get his hands on either Malfoy or Snape.

"I'll find out why the hell he's back, and then I'll beat him till you can't recognize his precious face anymore."

"Harry!" Hermione said, shocked. "I know he's an awful person, but maybe there's a reason this tip led you to him."

Harry said nothing. She was right, and he knew it would be incredibly stupid to hurt the boy that could lead him right to where he wanted to be.

"Harry, what if the note was to lead you right into a trap with Malfoy?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Well, then so far their trap is working out pretty well, now isn't it?" Harry said.

"That's not funny, Harry," Hermione said.

"I know, and I'll be careful," Harry replied.

He wanted off the topic of Malfoy.

"The good part of this whole deal is that we get back to lessons," Harry said.

"You're right, we definitely need as much training as we can get, but Harry, you know it's not going to be nearly as safe without…erm Dumbledore."

"I know, Hermione! We'll be careful, which is why we're still going to pick up the D.A. this year."

"We're what?" Ron asked.

"Harry! That's brilliant," Hermione said with a smile.

"Huh?" Harry said, confused.

"With you here, Harry, we'll be able to at least defend the students."

"Hermione, you realize what your saying will put a whole lot more of a burden on Harry," Ron said slowly.

"It doesn't matter Ron, I'm already fated to be a part of this," Harry said. But oh how he wished he wasn't.

"I know Harry, it's just, I'm wondering if you can handle this much pressure," Ron muttered, concerned for Harry.

Harry said nothing; he was thinking the exact same thing.

"Ron, don't be such a twit, Harry can handle it, he won't let us down," Hermione said, with and encouraging smile.

Harry didn't look at her. _What if I do let you down? _Harry thought miserably.

"Of course we won't have as much influence on the students without our perfect badges this year." Hermione muttered.

"Why'd you get them taken away?" Luna asked.

"Because, we told the school we wouldn't be coming back, so they gave up our positions." Hermione said.

"I'm glad," Ron said. "Taking care of all the students was a real pain; they're such annoying prats, the whole lot of them."

"Well, it would have been useful if we still had our badges," Hermione said, looking at Harry. "But since we don't, I guess we'll have to work around that."

"Harry, I just had a thought," Ron said suddenly.

"Oh, that's a change," Hermione said rather rudely.

"Shut it," Ron said dryly. "Harry, what if Snape is back? What if he's brought Malfoy back with him?"

"I don't want to think about that," Harry muttered.

Harry could maybe deal with Malfoy, but there was no way that Harry could ever see Snape again without snapping.

The carriages arrived at the castle's front entrance, and they all got out. Harry was reminded of all the previous times he had walked through these doors; this was the first time he would walk through the doors wishing he was anywhere but the castle of Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry.

The doors opened, and they all walked to their seats. Harry looking aimlessly around for a site of the new headmistress and instead his eyes landed on a very pretty girl with flaming red hair identical to Ron's. Harry's heart gave a huge tug, as she looked back at him, eyes full of longing, desire, and an emotion Harry couldn't deny as anything but anger.

Harry tore himself away from her eyes and casted them towards the staff tables as he sat. There, sitting in Dumbledore's old spot, was a woman he had never seen before. She had long golden hair, blue eyes, a thin face, and deep blood red robes.

Harry nudged Ron and nodded his head towards the headmistress.

"Who's she?" Harry asked.

"Good question," Ron answered. "I thought they'd get McGonagall for sure."

Hermione surveyed the woman.

"It's odd," Hermione said. "Usually they get someone who knows the castle, like a professor."

Harry regarded her apprehended. _What did the rest of the world think of this woman? Was she trustworthy?_

The woman's eyes were surveying the students, but they never stopped to make contact with anyone, not even Harry who didn't tear his eyes off her face until the first year students were led in by Professor McGonagall.

Harry turned his attention to the sorting hat along with the rest of the students in the hall, and the hat opened its brim to speak.

_Regarding my year's,_

_Eternity seems merely a game to fear, _

_Savagely I'm welcoming you,_

_So here's my only clue,_

_Irreplaceable souls will be lost here, _

_Nothing will change, the future is clear,_

_Petrified you may be,_

_Either you cut your enemies, or they will cut thee,_

_Alas, you may say,_

_Cutting ties, there's no way,_

_Entirely not true,_

_Alliances are the greatest power we have,_

_Liabilities aside, we are all each other has,_

_Break apart from barriers,_

_Unite with a formal hatred carrier,_

_Slytherin coy blend with Hufflepuff joy,_

_Dim wits with brains,_

_Understanding with fame,_

_Muggles with purebloods,_

_Balance's between hate and love,_

_Leveling the playing field,_

_Exaggerating a new life we dream of, _

_Don't let go of these dreams we keep,_

_Others will be lost,_

_Regardless of decisions we make,_

_Enjoy what time we have, for it just may be your turn next week._

With the last line, the song ended somewhat abruptly. Harry stared at the hat, thinking something was wrong, but McGonagall stood up and went to the hat, telling the first years what to do.

"That was oddly cryptic," Ron muttered.

"And a lot like last year's," Hermione said.

"They want us to unite the houses," Harry said.

"I don't think the Slytherins and the Gryffindor's will ever get along," A boy named Neville muttered.

"Bloody right," Ron nodded.

"Ron, Neville, don't be so closed minded, someday you just may have to fight side by side with a Slytherin," Hermione shot at them.

"Who said anything about fighting?" Ron asked.

"We're in a war," Hermione said swiftly. "What do you think you do in a war?"

"Don't be so cold about it, Hermione," Ron said gruffly.

"Well, then take it more seriously."

McGonagall kept calling out names. Harry noticed eyes upon them, and turned to see the Head Mistress looking in their direction. The woman with blue eyes was staring at them with a blank expression.

"Ron, Hermione, shut it," Harry muttered.

The woman nodded at Harry, then turned her attention back to the students. As unfamiliar as the new headmistress seemed, Harry couldn't help but think he knew her from somewhere.

Hermione and Ron stopped bickering and watched the sorting in a huff.

Soon the new students were all sorted, everyone was seated and the new headmistress stood up to address the students.

"Welcome, everyone to Hogwarts. I am, the new Headmistress Aiyana. I take up this honor with pride, dignity, and loyalty, for the loss of the man who came before me. I, like many of you, know the tragedy this school has been through within the last few year's. And I'm here to promise you, that while you are here on these grounds, you will be safe from Voldemort's attacks," Aiyana said as she glanced around the room.

Harry was not entirely shocked to hear her say Voldemort's name aloud; after all if she was loyal to Dumbledore, she would believe the way he did: that his name was not to be feared.

"Though this year will bring forth many new avenues for all of you, some not so bright, I look foreword to being able to teach you to defend yourselves against the Dark wizards in this world. I know this sounds scary, but there is a war fast approaching, and many of you will find yourselves in the middle of it," her eyes glanced at Harry's for a moment. "But you will be prepared if I can help it, and these year's you have at Hogwarts will teach you the greatest thing of all, unity. As such, there is an important announcement I must make before the feast shall begin."

---

_-Summer, shortly after Harry's birthday-_

_-Two day's before the wedding.-_

_Harry and Ron were sleeping in a room in Number 12 Grimmauld Place because Harry had decided if any sort of knowledge might be gained it might as well be here, in a safe haven away from trouble. Plus the wedding was fast approaching and Mrs. Weasley had convinced Harry, Ron and Hermione to take a break from their search. _

_The two boys awoke to the shrill sounds of people arriving that morning. A loud popping noise came from the bottom of their beds and Fred and George appeared._

_"Wake up," George said._

_"Aunt Lori is here," Fred said._

_"What?" Ron said as he yawned._

_"And Aunt Crissy," said George._

_"And Uncle Harold."_

_"Cousin Julie."_

_"Mum's aunt Marigold."_

_"Wallace."_

_"Peter."_

_"Fleur's parents."_

_"Gabrielle."_

_"And not to mention her hott cousin, Bridgett," Fred said._

_"Who?" Harry asked sleepily, pulling on his glasses._

_Their door opened, and in rushed Ginny and Hermione, fully dressed and slightly frantic._

_"Do not go out there!" Ginny quickly said._

_"What's going on?" Harry asked._

_"Everyone is arriving for the wedding, Harry," Fred explained._

_"That means every single Weasley and their significant other is going to be staying here," Ginny continued. _

_"At my house?" Harry rang out._

_"Sorry, mate," George said sympathetically._

_"You shouldn't have told Mum that it was okay to have the wedding near here," Ron shrugged._

_"Plus, Fleur's family is showing up as well, and so there's a bunch of Veela running around," Hermione said distastefully._

_"Which, given the situation is the only good part," George said._

_"So, what are we supposed to do?" Ginny asked._

_"We're hiding out," Fred said._

_"Aunt Crissy heard about our drop out, and she'll not give us a moment's peace until we explain ourselves," George explained._

_"Which we won't."_

_"So we hide in here."_

_The door opened again, and in rushed a confused Remus Lupin and disgruntled Bill Weasley._

_"You'd think she'd have a problem with werewolves the way she's talking," Bill murmured._

_"Oh, good morning," Lupin said, as he realized they had an audience._

_"You're all hiding as well?" Bill asked._

_"Bill, mate, you're going to have to go back out there," Fred said with a smile._

_"Oh no I won't. I shouldn't have to deal with family until the wedding, when I'm too smashed to understand they're insulting me."_

_"You're _fiancée_ will come looking for us," Lupin said._

_"Hmm, you're right...Hey, Fred, George, want to go out for a bit? We'll say we're doing some brother bonding," Bill said smartly._

_"Right, where to?"_

_"Wait, you can't leave us all alone!" Ginny whined._

_"Sorry, Gin," Bill said with a grin. "Leaky Cauldron."_

_They nodded, and Lupin, Bill, Fred and George apparated from the spot._

_"Why didn't they invite us?" Ron asked with a scowl._

_"Probably because they know that Harry can't apparate," Hermione stated._

_"Well, I haven't seen my brother since he's been off doing things with Fleur. I want to have brother time," Ron protested._

_"Then go," Harry said._

_"You sure?" _

_"Yeah, go, have fun, we'll hold up the fort," Harry said, smiling._

_"Thanks, mate," Ron said, and then apparated. _

_"Well..." Harry said awkwardly, as he, Ginny and Hermione were the only ones left._

_Ginny looked away from Harry and left the room. Hermione looked after her, and then turned to Harry._

_"Hermione, I don't need a lecture," Harry muttered._

_"I wasn't going to give you one, Harry," Hermione said. "I was just going to tell you to give her some time. She's heartbroken over you; it's going to be a while till she's going to be okay around you again."_

_"It's just weird her not talking to me," Harry said._

_"I know," Hermione said._

_They heard a knock on the front door from outside their room._

_"Want to go meet the family?"_

_"I dunno, they sound like a scary bunch," Harry joked._

_The two went to the door, and walked outside only to come to find the person who had just entered the house was none other than Percy Weasley._

_Everyone was deadly quiet._

_Hermione let out a low whisper, "Very scary indeed." _

---

The hall was silent; every single face was staring at the new Headmistress.

"I know the first years have just been sorted. It's been this way for year's; this school has been divided in four. Four groups of equally able wizards and witches separated by nothing but a title. Tonight, that tradition will be thrown away, and your titles broken. As of tonight, the houses that you know are no longer in existence, and you are all one."

The hall was filled with shock from nearly every student.

"I would like you now, to all get up from where you are seated, do not move from your spot, but please remain standing," Aiyana said gracefully.

Nobody rose from their seats; not a single person, and Harry wasn't surprised.

"I know this is a strange notion, and that many of you will be upset by the idea. But what good is it to be separated at times such as these; the only way to break the walls between you is to take away the things that separate you."

The students still did not get up, and Aiyana seemed to understand that she would need to do a bit more persuading.

"For the sake of the Wizarding world, and the sake of the lives that will be lost, stand now, and become a force to be reckoned with, stand against evil, and work together. Please, stand now."

Everyone was looking around each other at the tables. Harry knew what he had to do, but Hermione put a hand on his arm, and Harry turned sharply. Why was she discouraging him?

He saw her arm pointing at the Slytherin end of the hall; he searched for her direction and he found it, there, standing tall and just as stiffly as ever, was a blonde boy with silver gray eyes. Draco Malfoy was the only student standing in the whole hall.


	2. Breaking Traditions

A hushed murmur swept the hall, and Harry lost his nerve. He began to stand, not to support the Headmistress, but to pummel Malfoy. Hermione rose as well, grabbing his arm and stopping him. He looked at her and she shrugged. Ron quickly rose up as well. Soon the whole hall was in whispers; Harry could hear a few of the Gryffindors sitting farther down.

"Harry thinks its okay," a boy muttered.

"But so does Draco," a girl said.

"Should we stand?"

Luna started to stand from the other table, followed by Ginny and Neville. Soon, others were following suit and within no time at all, everyone but half of the Slytherin table was standing, facing Aiyana.

The Slytherins who had chosen not to stand were regarding their fellow classmates in disgust. The few who did stand, Harry noticed, were among Malfoy's posy and admirers.

Aiyana beamed, turned her attention to the Slytherins, and said, "It seems you are out-voted, dears. Please stand with the rest of your classmates."

They turned to each other, and a few rose. Then Blaise spoke out, "What's going to happen if we don't?"

Aiyana just smiled, and then turned back to the others.

"I would like half the students from each table to please stand up and switch to another table. You may stick with your friends, of course. This is just the beginning transition; we will learn to coexist more as this school year goes along. Please move now, so that we may start the feast."

"Do we move?" Harry asked, looking at Ron.

"Let's go," Hermione said, taking Ron and Harry by the arms, and leading them towards the once Ravenclaw table.

Harry looked back to see Luna joining Ginny at the Gryffindor table, and Neville joining Hufflepuffs. As he looked around, he noticed no one was joining the Slytherin table, and only three had left it. Those three were heading right towards Ravenclaw. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle took their seats a few students away from Harry and the others.

"Harry, maybe we should move to Slytherin," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not sitting at Slytherin, even if such a thing doesn't exist anymore," Ron said sharply.

"But no one is sitting there," Hermione said.

"Then let them be segregated," Ron stated.

Soon, the students had settled in various places around the hall, and Aiyana began to speak again.

"Thank you for cooperating so nicely. This year at Hogwarts will be very fun indeed. We will be voting for our main mascot sometime this week. So, tuck in." Aiyana said grinning, and food filled the tables.

"Brilliant," Ron said as he started to fill his plate.

Harry, however, was not hungry, and couldn't take his eyes off Malfoy, making sure that he didn't slip out somehow.

Hermione noticed Harry not touching food and let out a tutting sound.

"Harry, eat something."

"Yeah, come on mate, it's delicious," Ron said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

Harry nodded and took a piece of chicken. His eyes kept shifting over to Malfoy, wondering why he was back.

Malfoy was talking to Crabbe in a low whisper. Harry craned hard to hear, but as he did so, he saw Malfoy consciously stop speaking and turn to him.

"Excuse me, I don't believe I was talking to you," Malfoy said coolly to Harry. "And if you keep looking at me, I promise you, I'll be the last thing you ever see."

"Why are you here?" Harry asked stiffly.

"Because we're breaking down boundaries, Potter, weren't you listening?" Malfoy said in a mocking tone.

"I know why you're at the table, you prat, but why are you here at Hogwarts?"

Malfoy stared at him for a moment, blank faced. Harry waited. Malfoy started to open his mouth to say something, but turned his head towards Goyle and spoke to him instead in a whisper that Harry could not hear.

Harry, frustrated, slammed the table, and the students around him turned curiously.

"Harry, just leave it for now," Hermione whispered. "He's up to something, and we'll figure it out."

"Yeah Harry, don't worry," Ron said, patting his shoulder.

Harry nodded and turned back to his food. This year was definitely not going to be fun.

---

_-Summer-_

_-Number 12 Grimmauld Place-_

_-Two days before the wedding.-_

_Everyone in the room was staring silently at Percy, who looked around and nodded._

_"Percy?" Mrs. Weasley's voice called out. "Percy?"_

_"Hello, mum," he said, letting her pull him into a huge hug._

_"What are you doing home, sweetums?" Mrs. Weasley asked, tears in her eyes._

_Mr. Weasley came into view, looking at his son apprehensively. Percy saw him and gave him the same blank look._

_"Dad," Percy started._

_"Oh! Arthur, Percy's home!"_

_"So he is, Molly," Mr. Weasley said sharply._

_"Dad, I-" Percy started._

_"Why don't you just sit down with the family first, before you get to business matters? Your mom misses you, after all," Arthur said, nodding to the family who was all staring awkwardly at the scene._

_"Right," Percy nodded. "Where's Bill?"_

_"Oh, he...Where did he go Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked her husband, looking around for him._

_"Zat's a very good question if you ask me," Fleur said, slightly upset._

_"He went to catch up with his brothers and Lupin," Harry said, causing everyone to turn to him. _

Oops,_ Harry thought. _Attract attention Harry, brilliant.

"_They went to the Leaky Cauldron," Hermione spoke up._

_ "Well, I'll go there as well," Percy said, nodding to Hermione's information._

_"I'll go with you, Perce," Charlie Weasley said, coming from another room._

_"Alright," Percy agreed. _

_"Tell Bill that we will need to take pictures later, so 'e better be 'ere," Fleur said. _

_"Will do," Charlie said before the two apparated._

_Molly let out a low hiccup and Arthur put his arm around her, bringing her into the kitchen._

_"Well, that was fun," Harry muttered._

_"What do you think he's here for?" Hermione asked._

_"Who knows? It's Percy; he could be after anything."_

_"Well, shall we mingle?" Hermione asked._

_"If we must," Harry sighed._

_The two headed into the living room and were immediately overwhelmed by greetings. Harry was shaking tons of hands and people were saying his name a lot, as they always did._

_"'Arry, it's nice to see you again," Gabrielle greeted, kissing his cheek._

_"Nice to see you again," Harry echoed._

_From the back of the room, he saw a taller red-headed man named Uncle Tom who was talking with another red-headed woman named Aunt Ethel._

_"See the brown-haired girl? Molly says her son talks about her a lot- she thinks they're dating. Lovely couple they would make. Seems she's a muggle though, but there are'nt too many pure bloods around. And Harry Potter was dating little Ginny Weasley! Isn't that remarkable, Ginny and Harry?"_

_"Let's get out of here," Harry groaned. He turned to see Hermione looking a little pink in the face._

_"You okay, Hermione?" Harry asked._

_"Fine. Yeah, let's go somewhere else."_

_Harry turned away and smiled as they left. As they entered the kitchen, a big woman with lots of make-up and bright vibrant clothing grabbed a hold of them._

_"Harry Potter! And this must the lovely Hermione Granger!" the woman said in an obscenely loud voice. "I'm Ron's Aunt Crissy!"_

_Harry and Hermione exchanged frightened looks as Aunt Crissy began to hug them both incessantly._

---

The feast was over, and the dishes had just been wiped clean of dessert. Everyone was quiet once more as Aiyana stood to speak to the students.

"Well, I know you must all be very sleepy, and so therefore, to speed things along, I will leave all further announcements and schedule pass outs till tomorrow after breakfast. Now, since none of you knows exactly where you are to be staying here at Hogwarts, I would like you all to do the following. Professors McGonagall, Hagrid, and Sprout will be handing out directions to your new common room and dormitory. Moreover, I know this seems silly, but after each semester, you will change your sleeping arrangements so that you will be meeting new friends and making alliances. So with that, those with the last names starting A through I, go with Professor McGonagall. J through R with Professor Hagrid, and S through Z with Professor Sprout."

Harry, Hermione and Ron stared dumbfounded for a moment.

"How many common rooms do you think there will be?" Harry asked.

"No idea, mate."

"Are we not going to share a common room?" Hermione asked.

"Who's going to do my homework?" Ron asked, suddenly panic-stricken.

Hermione scowled and the two watched as she headed off towards Professor McGonagall. Harry let out a laugh.

"Well, see yah, mate," Ron said.

"Right," Harry muttered. Would they really break up the trio they had kept together for six years?

Harry got in line to see Hagrid, and when it was his turn, the great giant smiled.

"'Arry, you're back," he said as he pulled him into a rough hug.

"Hi, Hagrid," Harry said.

"Well, let's see, 'Arry. Here's your map, and your password."

"Thanks," Harry said, glancing at it as he moved away from Hagrid.

Behind him, he heard Draco drawl, "So, where'd they put me?"

Harry walked out of earshot and read his password ("lullaby") Harry pulled out the directions and followed them up to the fifth floor, down a right hall, a left, and finally met his destination. He found himself standing in front of a large female statue that was smiling at many other students Harry had never seen before.

"What's going on here?" Harry asked a blonde haired girl.

"She won't open up," the girl replied. "Says that we haven't gotten the right place."

Harry moved towards the front and spoke the password, but the statue just smiled.

"I'm not moving for even great Mister Harry Potter because I have no where to move to! Now scram and leave me be."

"Come on!" a fifth year boy groaned.

"Harry? What's going on?" a familiar female voice called out.

Harry turned and was surprised to see Ginny looking at the statue.

"This isn't the right spot," Harry replied.

"Well of course it's not, you great bunch of ninnies," rang a voice near the back of the line. The voice belonged to Malfoy. "The place is still farther."

"We can't go any farther," the blonde girl stated.

"Move it," Malfoy said, pushing his way to the front. "Watch," he commanded. He pushed the statue's arm and a wall opened up to the right.

Everyone started to push down the hall, and Malfoy walked swiftly past Harry who was giving him a death glare.

_At least I won't have to worry about finding Malfoy_, Harry thought optimistically. As he moved down the hall, he heard a voice calling from afar.

"Harry! Guess we're in the same place," Ron appeared, smiling.

"Cool. Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked.

"No, she took off in another direction earlier."

"Too bad," Harry said as they started down the hall.

"Did you recognize anyone else?" Ron asked as they went.

"Just Ginny and Malfoy," Harry stated.

"Malfoy? I better not room with him, or I swear he's dead."

"I quite agree," Harry nodded.

Soon, they found themselves in front of a wall.

"Lullaby," Harry said.

The wall slid open and the two walked in to see a very cozy looking room with more colors and arm chairs then their previous common room.

"So which way to your room?" Ron asked.

"This way," Harry said, pointing to some stairs on the right.

"So far, so good," Ron said.

The two headed up the stairs, pushed open a door, and were in a hall lined with doors.

"Which one is yours?" Harry asked.

"Err, it's called…they're giving them names?" Ron asked rhetorically, disgruntled as he read his paper.

Harry read his, and discovered his room name was-

"Phoenix," Harry said.

"Centaur," Ron muttered. "Now this is just bloody stupid."

"It does seem ridiculous."

"Well, catch you later, Harry. Just pray our roomies don't involve Malfoy or his crew."

"Bye," Harry said, and Ron disappeared behind a door that read _Centaur_ in gold lettering.

Harry found his door and pushed it open. Inside, his stuff was already by his bed. He discovered there was also a door closed, obviously currently occupied with a light shining from underneath that undoubtedly was a bathroom. They had their very own bathroom.

No one besides Harry was in the room yet, so he sat down on his bed and started to unpack.

The main door opened, and in stepped another seventh year boy that Harry recognized from Ravenclaw in past years. He had long brown hair, brown eyes, and a charming face.

"Harry Potter," he greeted, recognizing him.

Harry nodded his greeting, but had no idea what his name was.

"I'm Keifer Pax," he said as he sat down on a bed diagonal to Harry's.

"Nice to meet you, Keifer," Harry said, and continued to unpack.

"We have a bathroom?" Keifer's voice suddenly rang out.

"Guess so," Harry smiled.

"Neat."

The door opened again, and in stepped Dean Thomas.

"Harry, Keifer! Sweet! We're roomies guys!" Dean said with enthusiasm.

"Hey Dean," Harry greeted.

"What's up, Dean?" Keifer said.

"Not a lot...So...who's the fourth?" Dean asked.

Harry shrugged.

"Apparently he's in the bathroom," Keifer noted.

"We have a bathroom?" Dean said, just a dumbfounded as the others.

As they laughed, Harry looked over at the unoccupied bed across from him and glanced at the suitcase. He didn't need the bathroom door to open to guess who was going to be residing in it. Malfoy's name was etched on all his suitcases.

Harry let out a groan. _Just typical,_ he thought. _Well, at least I can keep an eye on the bugger. _

Dean hadn't noticed Malfoy's things, so when the bathroom door opened and Malfoy appeared in the doorway in his silk black pajama top and pants, the boy's mouth dropped right open from shock.

"Malfoy?" Dean finally said.

"Thomas," Malfoy said in a rude greeting and went to his bed, ignoring the others.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked roughly.

Malfoy looked up, and Harry saw his eyes fall on him.

"Why does everyone keep asking me dumb questions tonight?"

"Because they fit you, Malfoy," Harry muttered.

Keifer grew uncomfortable from the scene. Harry could tell the boy knew that none of them particularly got along.

"Potter," Malfoy acknowledged. "This will be quite interesting," he smirked.

Harry didn't say anything, and Malfoy didn't hold his gaze for long.

"Who are you?" Draco asked Keifer.

"Keifer Pax," he answered. "You're Lucius' son."

"So I am," Draco said. "And you're a what?"

"What do you mean?" Keifer asked.

"Mudblood? Half-blood? Pure blood?" Draco asked coolly.

"Pure," Keifer answered.

"Ravenclaw?" Draco guessed.

"That's right."

"Hmm," was all Draco said as he got into bed and pulled the curtains closed.

Harry looked towards Malfoy's bed for a moment before closing his own curtains, which shut out every noise in the room.

Harry pulled out the letter he had been concealing for weeks and unfolded it. He lighted the tip of his wand with a muttered "lumos,"and began to read it for the hundredth time.

_Dear Harry Potter,_

_I've chosen to write to you for three reasons and three reasons only. Each will be more important than the other, so read carefully and do not disregard anything. _

_The first is that your search for Voldemort's Horcrux's is a worthless ambition. They are being taken care of._

_The second is that Draco Malfoy is returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry next year, and he has something for you that could be of great importance. Should you return to school, the information you will find there will be very important in the coming war. Finding out the reason Draco Malfoy is back will be of great importance in your quest for peace._

_The third and most important reason is there will come a time at school when you will be invited to join a game of wits. When you are asked to enter, do so. The Games of the Dragon will be difficult at any rate, but the prize from winning will grant you a huge lead in the war against Voldemort. _

_I've told you three simple things- all of which will be to your advantage if you succeed in following through in them. Though I give this news anonymously, I hope you trust enough in your gut that this is the way that will win. I am on your side. The side of the once great leader and Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. If you need to reach me, leave messages in the Astronomy Tower in the loose stone behind the stairs. _

_Trust in me,_

_The Angel of Reason_

Harry folded up the letter once more and sighed heavily. He didn't know he could trust this so-called Angel of Reason, but regardless, he couldn't let this bit of information slip by unchecked. Harry had decided that if anything seemed even a bit dodgy, he'd get out of Hogwarts and go back to where they'd left off.

He looked back down at the letter. How was it being taken care of? Who else could possibly know about the Horcruxs? What were The Games of the Dragon, and how dangerous were they really? What sort of information did Malfoy have for him?

All these questions kept floating through Harry's head, but no answers came, and none would come until Harry took action. Therefore, he decided, tomorrow morning he would catch Malfoy before he left and make him spill the news. With that decision, Harry sat up and pulled out his pajamas, ready to get some sort of rest before having to confront Malfoy.

---

Hermione entered her common room behind a suit of armor after saying the password _Blizzard. _She looked around for a familiar face and came upon three very unfriendly looking ones. Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, and Millicent Bulstrode were smiling evilly, looking in her direction.

_Oh brother,_ Hermione thought.

"Granger," Pansy said. "Well, well, this is quite ironic. We were just talking about you."

"What do you want?" Hermione asked, annoyed.

"I heard you lost your Prefect badge," Blaise stated.

"What a shame," Pansy sneered.

"Is this what you want to talk to me about?" Hermione asked, feeling slightly intimidated as the three former Slytherins crowded around her.

"You've lost your power, Granger," Blaise grinned.

"Power? What are three talking about?"

"The power you had as a perfect. You lost it,"

"But you see, along with your loss of power, comes a loss of dignity," Pansy said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"What?" Hermione asked, bewildered.

"You see, Granger," Millicent started, "we're taking you down this year. Any way we can. Precious Hermione Granger isn't going to be so tough once we're done with her."

"You're going to be begging us to stop," Pansy said.

"You'll beg for us to stop the pain," Blaise laughed.

Hermione frowned and then pushed passed them, heading towards her room.

"Don't think you can get around this Granger. It's going to happen, and believe me, it's going to be fun," Pansy said.

"Fun for us, anyway," Blaise pointed out stupidly.

Hermione ignored them and entered her room. She breathed a sigh of relief and then closed her eyes.

_What are they after now? _Hermione wondered, _and what do they have planned for me?_


	3. Ask Her

Harry awoke early the next morning to find Malfoy's bed empty and already made. He quickly checked the bathroom, but no one was inside. He glanced at a clock and found it to be five forty-one.

_What kind of person gets up this early? _Harry asked himself.

Keifer and Dean were still sound asleep in their beds. Harry quickly got dressed and ready, and was out of the dormitory in no time at all.

He entered the common room and found Ron sitting there all alone.

"Ron?" Harry asked. "What are you doing up, mate?"

"What?" Ron asked, looking up. He looked like he hadn't slept a wink all night.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," Ron said, giving a huge yawn.

"I can see that. You look awful," Harry said.

"Thanks for that," Ron muttered.

"Nightmares?" Harry asked.

"No, just thinking too much."

"About what?"

"Nothing. It's not important," Ron said quickly. "What are you doing up this early?"

"I was going to- er," Harry paused. Did he have any reason not to tell Ron? "I couldn't sleep either," Harry lied, though he didn't know why.

"Sorry, mate," Ron said, getting up. "Well, I'm going to go try to get an hour sleep or something."

"Alright." Harry nodded.

Ron started towards the dorms when he suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Wait, I forgot to ask, who are your dorm buddies?"

"Well," Harry started, "Dean, Keifer, and who'd of guess my luck, Malfoy."

"That git! Tell McGonagall you want to transfer."

Harry let out a laugh.

"I would, but it might be better for us to have an eye on him."

"Too right," Ron agreed.

"Who's your roomies?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's stupid really. They're three people I've never seen before in my life, are noisy as all hell, and they all seem to know each other."

"Our year?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, two former Hufflepuffs, Jack and Edward, and former Ravenclaw, Logan."

"Never heard of 'em," Harry replied.

"Well, see yah later, Harry," Ron said.

"Oh wait, Ron, did Malfoy come out here earlier?" Harry asked quickly.

"Er, yeah mate, but he didn't see me; he just sort of stalked out at half past five," Ron answered. "Why?"

"I dunno." Harry shrugged. "He wasn't in his bed when I finally gave up on sleep."

"He seemed up to something," Ron informed with a shrug.

"He always does," Harry said. "Catch you later, Ron."

"Yeah, right. See yah," Ron said before he turned around and went off to bed. Harry, on the other hand, went in search of Malfoy.

Harry found Draco coming up from the dungeons, but as Harry approached, Draco completely ignored his presence and went past him, bumping Harry's shoulder rudely. Harry angrily followed him. The pursuit led him all the way up to the fourth floor and through a maze of corridors. Harry watched as Draco disappeared behind a door he never knew had existed.

He pondered if he should go in. He glanced around, and nobody was to be seen. Deciding that he ought to figure out what was going on, Harry pulled out his wand- just to be safe- and pushed open the door.

The room was dark, lit only by a few candles. The walls were lined with books and strange objects Harry couldn't identify. There was also a couch in the center of the room, next to an empty cauldron.

Harry stepped further inside, and the door slammed behind him to reveal Malfoy glaring at him.

"Bloody hell, Potter! You stalking me now?" Draco snapped angrily.

"What is this place?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"It's a room, you git. Now get out! It's _my_ room," Draco said vehemently.

"What are you up to, Malfoy?" Harry asked, ignoring him.

"Up to? As in on a daily basis, or right now?" Draco asked, opening the door for Harry to leave.

"I mean, what are you doing back at Hogwarts?"

"Get the fuck out of my sight, Potter!" Draco snapped.

"Malfoy, I need to know, goddamn it!" Harry yelled. If Malfoy would just answer him, then he wouldn't need to keep following him around.

"I said out!" Malfoy repeated, taking out his wand.

Harry raised his own wand, but Malfoy made a quick move and without warning, Draco ditched his wand and punched Harry in the gut, sending him tumbling to the floor outside the room. Draco looked at him for a moment, sneering.

"Mind your own bloody business, Potter," he spat before slamming the door.

Harry moaned in pain and slowly stood up, glaring at the door. He was going to get to the bottom of this. If Malfoy had something for him, he'd figure out what it was and take it from him by force if he had to.

Ron came back down from his room and into the empty common room.

"Harry?" Ron questioned, but no one was there to answer.

He sighed and sat down on the couch again, staring into the empty fireplace.

"What do I do?" Ron muttered to himself.

"What do you do about what?" came a female voice.

Ron looked up to see Ginny coming from the girls' dormitory.

"What's up Ron? You look extremely pathetic," Ginny said, taking a seat across from him.

"Go away, Ginny," Ron ordered.

"No, seriously, what's going on?" Ginny asked concerned.

"What are _you_ doing up?" Ron asked curiously.

"I sensed a fellow Weasley was upset, so I came down to comfort him."

"You shouldn't let your magic go like that," Ron said.

"It's not going to hurt me," Ginny said flatly.

"Still, it's invasion of privacy,"

"I can only sense what you're feeling; it's not like I can read your thoughts," Ginny said hotly. "Plus, it's not like you don't use your magic."

Ron nodded and sighed. The Weasleys had discovered over the summer that his sister had the power of reading feelings off people. Actually, they had discovered many things about themselves, but Ron was still too unsure of it to believe.

"It's still weird," Ron muttered.

"I know, but really, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Ron said evasively, his ears turning slightly pink.

"A girl, aye?" Ginny asked with a smile. "Who?"

"None of your business," Ron said. "And no, it's not a girl."

"You're a bad liar."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Go away."

"Why, because you're embarrassed?"

"No, because you're annoying."

"Is it Lavender?" Ginny asked.

"No!" Ron said immediately. "Ugh, no! Lavender and I are over."

"Then, is it…er." Ginny stopped, looking sheepish.

Ron looked at her. "What?"

"Er, Hermione?"

Ron groaned.

"Not Hermione…" Ginny paused. "I dunno who else."

"It's bloody Hermione, alright? So bugger off!" Ron said angrily.

"Aw, that's so cute!" Ginny cooed giddily.

"It's not bloody cute! She doesn't like me!"

"Oh come off it, Ron! She does too," Ginny said assuredly.

"Then why's she been ignoring me?" Ron asked.

"She's definitely not ignoring you, Ron," Ginny said.

"I know," Ron sighed.

"Then what's the matter?"

"I dunno how to ask her out. I mean, it's Hermione," Ron said slowly.

"What's that mean?"

"I mean, I want it to be special, that's all."

"Ron, just ask her out already! God knows it's been a long time coming! Just get down to it already," Ginny urged him.

"I don't want to screw it up. I always screw things up," Ron said.

"That's true."

"Go away."

"Sorry. Maybe you can ask her to Hogsmeade. That would be nice, right?" Ginny suggested.

"Really nice," Ron said dreamily. "But I'll screw it up when I ask her. I'll somehow end up insulting her, or asking her roommate out instead. It'll be awful."

"So let me get this straight…you've been up for hours, pondering how to ask Hermione Granger out on a date?"

"That about sums it up," Ron nodded.

"Ronald Weasley, snap out of it! Ask her any old way you please; she's still going to say yes no matter how you do it. Just let them be the first words out of your mouth."

"I'll get tongue tied, she'll get confused, and I'll wind up asking her for homework help or something lame. I always do," Ron said, angry with himself.

"Then don't. And don't ask me or anyone else to do it for you," Ginny said. "That would be one big way of screwing it up."

"I know." Ron sighed. "I just don't know when I can do it."

"When you see her next, just ask her."

"What if she says no?"

"She won't," Ginny assured him.

"What if she has a boyfriend already?"

"She doesn't."

"But what if…"

"Stop it, Ron! Jeez, just do it, all right? You'll be fine."

"Thanks Gin," Ron said with a small smile.

"Any time."

"Ginny-" Ron started.

"No, don't," Ginny interrupted. "I don't want to talk about Harry."

"But-"

"I said don't."

"All right. Well, I guess I'm not getting much sleep tonight," Ron said with a yawn.

"Wait up. I can get you something," Ginny said, rushing back up to her room.

Ron yawned again. A few moments later, the door opened and Harry came in.

"Harry," Ron said, turning to him. "You all right?" he asked as he noticed Harry looking a bit ill.

"Yeah, fine," Harry muttered. "Just a bit woozy. Lack of sleep, you know."

"Right." Ron nodded. "Did you have a nightmare about You-Know-Who again?"

"No, just couldn't sleep." Harry shrugged.

They heard footsteps from the girls' dormitory and saw Ginny bounding down the steps with a potion in hand. When she reached the bottom, she saw Harry standing with Ron.

"Er…" she said awkwardly. "Here you go Ron. Drink this. It'll, er, help with the yawning and, er, sleep or lack thereof."

Ginny quickly handed Ron the potion, gave Harry a quick nod hello, and muttered something about eating breakfast. She hurried out of the room, leaving Ron and Harry alone.

"She hates me, doesn't she?" Harry asked.

"Nah, she doesn't," Ron disagreed, preparing himself for the potion.

"She talked to me yesterday. Well, just to ask me about how to get into the rooms. Still, now she's acting like she doesn't even know me."

"Give her time," Ron advised. "She'll cool off."

"I hope so," Harry said. "I really hope so."

---

_-Summer-_

_-Leaky Cauldron-_

_-Two days before the wedding.-_

_Ron, Bill, Lupin, Fred and George were all laughing at a table in the back of the Leaky Cauldron. _

_"She turned purple," George said._

_"Then blue," Fred continued._

_"And soon she was a whole ray of colors," George said. "So Fred takes his wand and holds it up, and she shrieks and yanks it out of his hand."_

_They laughed heartily at the story, picturing the scene George laid out for them._

_"What did she do when she started coughing up skittles?" Ron asked._

_"Well, I finally got my wand back right when she started coughing," Fred said. "So I stopped it before she got too bad."_

_"She was so pissed!" George said. "She started raiding the store, throwing things at Fred."_

_"So I go down and take a hold of her," Fred says. "And she kisses me!" _

_"What!" Bill and Ron sputtered._

_"I know!" Fred laughed. _

_"Took us both by surprise," George agreed._

_"Then, Angie just put her hand over her mouth and stared at me for a while," Fred said. "And we've been dating ever since."_

_"You're dating, Angelina?" Ron asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"_

_"I've been busy, little bro." Fred shrugged._

_"That's not quite as entertaining as how Fleur and I met," Bill said, taking a drink of his butterbeer._

_"How about you, Ronald? Anyone special in your life?" George asked with a smile._

_"Yeah, tell us about Hermione!" Fred winked._

_"Shut it!" Ron hissed. "We're not dating!"_

_"Really?" Lupin asked, seemingly surprised._

_"Yes, really," Ron muttered. "How about you and Tonks? How's everything going with her?" Ron asked, changing the subject._

_ "She's Tonks," Lupin responded with a shrug._

_"What's that mean?" Bill smiled._

_"I, well, we're still, er, working some stuff out," Lupin stammered._

_"Well hurry it up, Remus, or you'll be too old to have kids," George joked._

_Choking on his drink Lupin asked, "What?"_

_"He's kidding," Bill said, giving George a look. _

_"No I'm not!" George argued. "Really, if you want a family, you got to have at it. See how my mum had children?"_

_Two figures approached the table and the group turned to see as the older figure spoke._

"_You talking about shagging, little bro? Mum would probably rather you be preaching abstinence," Charlie said with a smile._

_However, everyone's attention was on the brother by his side, and they all stared at him with the same unforgiving disbelief look. _

_Percy stared at them, but turning his attention to Lupin, he asked, "What are you doing here?" _

"_What are you doing here?" George countered stiffly._

_The boys all stared amongst themselves, the air full of hate and confusion._

"_I came to congratulate my brother," Percy explained._

"_Bullshit," Fred said. "Why are you really here?"_

"_Why is he here?" Percy asked again, indicating Lupin._

"_He's a guest, whereas you're not," Bill muttered._

"_It's okay," Lupin said. "I should let you guys talk."_

"_Right," Charlie said. "Tell mum we might be a while."_

"_Will do," Lupin said, and he disapparated._

"_What do you want, Percy?" Ron asked angrily._

"_First, I wanted to apologize," Percy said, "for everything I've put you guys through..."_

"_Well, then you better get on your hands and knees and crawl back the way you came, because your apologies aren't good here," Bill said in a monotone voice._

"_I-" Percy started._

"_He's right, Perce. Why don't you just come out with what you have to say and cut the crap? No one wants to hear it," Charlie said, taking a seat next to Bill._

_"And say it quickly, because I really must be getting back to the reception," Bill said._

_"You five are so arrogant," Percy insulted, causing Ron to let out a bark of laughter. _

_"Arrogant? Look who's talking."_

_"You won't even listen to what your own brother has to say?" Percy questioned._

_"No, because you're not really part of the family any more now, are you?" Bill asked._

_"Which is why I wanted to apologize."_

_"Which is why we told you to stuff it," George mocked._

_"Very well then." Percy nodded. "If this wasn't such important business, I wouldn't even be here."_

_"We couldn't have guessed that," Ron spat sarcastically._

_"Do you want me to tell you or not?"_

_"Speak up already, Percy! We're getting bored," Charlie ushered him._

_"Right then." Percy nodded again. "You're not going to believe this."_

_---_

Ron and Harry entered the dining hall, which was pretty empty, and the banners that once indicated the different houses were now a solid orange color.

"Where do we sit?" Harry asked.

"Let's go over by Luna," Ron suggested.

"All right."

The two sat across from Luna, who looked up from the paper she was reading.

"Oh, morning, Ron, Harry."

"Morning," the two boys greeted.

"I wonder what Aiyana is going to announce, don't you?" Luna asked.

"I think she might say something about Quidditch," Ron said, grabbing a muffin. "I mean, after all, without separate teams, we can't have the sport, right?"

Harry nodded, then asked, "Are you still on the team?"

"Yeah, are you?"

"I dunno. They asked me, but I, er, said I didn't know yet."

"What? Why?"

"Just have a lot on my mind is all."

Just then, Hermione came up and sat next to Luna.

"Morning," Hermione greeted, grabbing a pastry.

"Morning," Harry said, trying to decide what he wanted to eat.

Ron stared at her for a moment, opened mouthed.

"What, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I, er…How's your roommates?" Ron asked, and Harry noticed him silently cursing himself.

"Oh, they're fine," Hermione said with a smile. "But it's the three in the common room that are going to drive me insane."

"Who?" Luna asked.

"Pansy, Blaise, and Millicent." Hermione sighed. "Apparently I'm their new victim."

"What?" Ron asked.

"I dunno." Hermione shrugged. "They threatened me last night."

"What?" Harry repeated, looking disbelieving.

Ron looked furious.

"You told them to stick it, right?"

"Well, I didn't say much of anything. They sort of had me cornered."

"You have to stick up for yourself, Hermione!" Ron insisted.

"Excuse me, Ronald, but I don't see you sticking up for yourself when Malfoy insults you!"

"I do too!" Ron yelled. "I'm a guy, I can handle teasing."

"Oh, and you're saying because I'm a girl, I can't?"

Harry and Luna exchanged looks, and Luna handed him a copy of The Quibbler. Harry took it and started to read.

"Well, yeah, girls need men to stick up for them."

"You are such a pig, Ron! Luna and I can stick up for ourselves, thank you!"

"Leave me out of it," Luna said quickly.

"If you weren't so stubborn, maybe you'd-"

"Excuse me, Ron," Ginny said behind him, causing Ron to jump. "Do we have a problem here?"

"Tell your brother he's an enormous git," Hermione huffed. "And Harry, you shouldn't read such nonsense."

Harry tried to catch Ginny's eye, but she stared determinedly at Ron.

"Ron, can I speak with you a moment?" Ginny asked quickly.

"Yeah," he said, getting up and following Ginny out of the Hall.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Screwing everything up."

"Why didn't you ask her like I told you to?"

"I told you I'd mess it up, and look, I did," Ron said flatly.

"Do it now, Ron," Ginny insisted.

"But Harry and Luna…"

"Believe me, Ron, she'll say yes even with them around. Besides, they'll know enough to stay out of it. Ask her to Hogsmeade. Go on, do it now!" Ginny said, pushing him towards Hermione and giving him a smile.

"But she's mad!"

"She'll get un-mad, now go!"

Ron stumbled backwards to the table and found himself in front of Hermione.

"Er…" was all he got out.

Both Hermione and Luna were staring at him fixatedly. Harry, however, was absent, but Ron took no notice.

"Ron are you-" Hermione started, trying to ask him if he was all right.

"No, no talk, just…Hermione…er…bloody hell!"

"Ron, what?" Hermione asked, concerned.

Ron looked across the room to see Ginny mouth the words 'ask her'. He looked back at Hermione.

"Hermione, would you like to go out with me?"


	4. Stolen Prophesies

Harry was sitting alone behind the stairs in the Astronomy tower. He felt that, maybe, by some stroke of luck, the Angel of Reason would stop by, and he'd be able to confront them.

But no one came.

So Harry was sitting there alone, wallowing in his grief for a good ten minutes. He knew he was going to miss Aiyana's speech if he didn't head back soon, but he just didn't care. Ron would fill him in later, anyway.

Harry sat there thinking about everything. About Ginny, about what was expected of him. Even about the Dragon Games and Draco Malfoy. Harry never felt more miserable in his life; he was even more depressed then when he spent the summers at the Dursleys. Harry let out a great sigh. He hadn't stopped thinking in a very long time.

Harry's thoughts wandered back to the Angel of Reason, and he turned then to the stone wall that was supposed to posses a loose stone. Harry, intrigued, started trying to move the stones one by one till he found it.

He slowly slid out the heavy rock, and found inside the empty space, a note with his name on the envelope. The stone made a loud _thump_ as Harry set it down, and he reached in and pulled out the letter. He took a deep breath and began to tear it open.

"Interesting place to hide, Potter," came a drawling voice.

Harry instantly shoved the letter into his pocket and looked over to see Malfoy peering behind the stairs.

"What's it to you?" Harry muttered.

"Nothing really." Malfoy shrugged.

Harry watched as Draco shifted his cold gray eyes over to where the stone was removed.

_Shit, _Harry thought.

"Destroying the castle, Potter?" Draco asked, slightly bemused.

"Bugger off, Malfoy," Harry snapped, and instantly regretted it. He needed Malfoy here so he could get information from him.

"Hey!" Draco said holding up his hands accusingly. "I'm not the one who was stalking you this morning."

"I wasn't stalking _you,_ Malfoy," Harry said.

"Oh really?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"To find out what you were so keen on talking to me about earlier," Draco said.

"What?" Harry asked, surprised.

Draco shrugged and Harry watched him clearly.

"You seemed so hell bent on talking to me, so I decided to grant you that privilege."

"Oh, I'm honored, Malfoy," Harry said sarcastically. "Why couldn't you talk to me earlier, and why'd you slug me?" This caused Draco to smile.

"I didn't feel like talking earlier. And you deserved it for being the nosey prat that you are, Potter."

"Duly noted, Malfoy."

"Right, well, what is it? What do you have to confess to me?"

Harry, however, wasn't in the mood for Malfoy's antics. Standing up, Harry watched as Draco moved back so he could come from behind the stairs.

"You know what, Malfoy?" Harry asked, moving forward. "I don't really want to put up with you right now, so you can just 'grant me the privilege' another time," he said, starting to leave.

"No," Draco said sharply.

Harry turned back around to face Malfoy's stern look.

"I'm not going to grant you another time, so you either talk now, or never again, Potter. And I'm not so generous with my time, so you better make it quick."

Harry glowered at him, but Draco kept a blank straight face. Harry didn't want to be going around under Draco's rules, but he didn't know if Malfoy was serious or not, and he couldn't risk the chance.

"Alright, Malfoy," Harry said. "First, why the hell are you back at school?"

---

Hermione stared at Ron, unsure of what she had just heard. Did he really just ask her out?

Luna gave Hermione a quick nudge in the ribs, and Hermione snapped back into reality. T_hat's right, I have to answer._

"I…I'd…of course, I'd like to go out with you," she answered. Hermione watched as Ron's horror visibly subsided, and he became calm.

"Great," he said. "How about Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"Sure," Hermione answered with a smile.

"Okay…" Ron nodded.

She watched him grow unsure of the situation, and decided she better do something quick before he scampered off, embarrassing himself.

"Okay," she tried.

_Well that was rather stupid,_ she cursed herself.

"I'm going to…" Ron said, pointing at the door.

Hermione inwardly smiled; he could be so cute when he was flustered.

"You'll miss Professor Aiyana's speech."

"Right…then I'll just sit," he said.

Hermione watched him awkwardly decide whether he wanted to sit in Harry's empty seat or next to her. She was please when he finally decided on her, and when he sat down, his aroma made her heart flutter.

"Well," Ron said. "Right then."

Luna turned sideways grinning, and cooed, "This is so cute!"

Hermione and Ron didn't say anything.

"It's about time you two got together. I better go talk to Ginny!" Luna said, eagerly standing and rushing off.

Hermione shook her head. This news was going to spread like wild fire.

Ron stared forward, and Hermione felt Ron grasp her hand in his. She took it, and they sat in silence at the breakfast table, holding hands. Hermione had never felt happier.

---

_-Summer-_

_-Leaky Cauldron-_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_"I just got out of a meeting with the Commissioner of Magical Affairs, Zorath Mal. He's a decent man, and is also part of the Department of Mysteries. I went with my boss, just to sort out a few issues that we were having with some of the prophecy disappearances. I'm sure you've heard about them," Percy started to explain._

_"Actually, we haven't heard anything about it," Bill said shortly. "And as such, I think you should get to the point."_

_"I am, just listen to me for a moment."_

_All the boys stayed quiet, attention focused on Percy._

_"Well, when we arrived, we were put into a room filled with prophecy books. I was getting ready to take notes for the meeting, when my boss told me that everything was off the record; we would not be allowed to take notes on what he was telling us. But then he told me to go through the books and document a few of them, and see which ones were missing where." _

_"How long can you drone on for, Percy?" George asked, interrupting._

_"I'm getting to the point, just hold on," Percy shushed him. "Well, I was looking through the books, and in the back section, there was a book missing. I was trying to see which volumes it was between, and I saw this..." Percy reached into his robes and pulled out a thin red, leather bound book, closed shut. On the cover in gold fading lettering were the words _Seven Mages of Fire. 

_"What is it?" Ron asked, confused._

_"It's a prophecy," Percy answered, sighing at his easily baffled brother._

_"Uh-huh," Fred said. "Your point?"_

_"It's a prophecy about us, you nit wits!"_

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-Number Twelve Grimmauld Place –_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_Harry and Hermione had escaped the crowded rooms of relatives, and managed to find safety back in Harry and Ron's room. _

_"They're all bloody mad!" Harry gasped as he shut the door quickly._

_"I had no idea Ron had so many relatives," Hermione said, exasperated._

_"No wonder they all split."_

_"We're not going to go back out there, are we?" Hermione asked fearfully._

_"No, or at least, not in the immediate future."_

_"Good. I don't think my cheeks can take much more pinching," Hermione said, rubbing her reddened checks._

_"I know what you mean." Harry nodded._

_A tap at the window made Harry jump, and he looked over to see Hedwig with mail._

"_Hedwig, you've got something for me?" he asked as he opened up the window. In response, Hedwig held up her leg for him to take the letters._

_There was a _Daily Prophet_ newspaper, and a concealed white envelope with his name on the front._

_"Who's the mail from?" Hermione asked._

_"I dunno," he said, picking up the letter and slowly opening it._

_Hermione took the _Prophet_, flipped it open, and immediately gasped and covered her mouth in shock._

_"What is it?" Harry asked, setting down the unread letter to look over at the _Daily Prophet

_"The Department of Mysteries...Was ransacked last Thursday," Hermione read. "It says that important prophecies have gone missing, and no culprits have been found."_

_"What?"_

_"This isn't good, Harry," Hermione said, turning to him. "There's information in these prophecies about the war. Those are the only ones they stole."_

_"But what can they do with a bunch of prophesies?"_

_"I dunno, Harry. But I do know that whoever these prophesies entail are going to be in danger."_

_"You think they'll try to kill the people involved?"_

_"If they're threatening to destroy His army, then yeah, I think they will."_

_"I hate these people."_

_"I know you do Harry," Hermione said with a sigh. "I do, too. But, Harry, what are we going to do?"_

_"Why are you asking me?"_

_"Harry, you're our leader in this."_

_"You've given this speech before, Hermione."_

_"Then I don't have to repeat it." _

_"No, you don't," Harry sighed. "Let's get this to Mad-Eye and Tonks, and see what they think."_

_"During the celebration?"_

_"Yes, during the celebration. We don't have time to celebrate, Hermione. Not if people are in danger."_

_"People are always in danger, Harry. Especially during a war."_

_"Well, if I can stop a few more casualties, then all the better."_

_"If you say so."_

_"I do," Harry said, staring sternly at her._

You wanted me to take charge_, Harry thought angrily, _then you better not question my judgment.

---

_-Summer-_

_-Leaky Cauldron-_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_"About us?" Ron asked, bewildered._

_"Yes." Percy nodded._

_"Percy, how'd they let you out of there with this?" Bill asked bemusedly, taking the book from him._

_Percy didn't answer, and the five boys crowded around the book, examining it._

_"They don't know you have it!" Bill asked, closing the book._

_"No, they don't," Percy said softly._

_"You...You stole this from the Department of Mysteries?" Bill questioned with a sharp intake of breath._

_The others turned from the book and looked at Percy, shocked._

_"Borrowed..." Percy corrected, voice low._

_"So they know you borrowed it?" Bill asked._

_"Not exactly..." Percy sighed._

_"What exactly is in this book that would make you steal it, Percy?" Charlie asked, as intrigued as the rest of his brothers._

_"Well, it's all very complicated in the book, but I got a, erm, translator," Percy explained._

_"You got someone to translate this?" Bill questioned, stunned._

_"Is that illegal?" Ron asked, perplexed._

_"Highly. Especially for a confidential Prophecy book," Bill replied. "How did you find a translator?"_

_"I found a place," Percy said vaguely._

_"Okay, enough with the suspense. What the hell does it say?" Fred finally let out._

---

Ginny smiled, satisfied, as she exited the hall. She had just helped Ron finally stuff his ego and ask Hermione Granger out on a date. Ginny headed towards the Room of Requirement, but stopped shortly when she heard Luna calling out her name.

"Ginny!" Luna caught up, short of breath. "He did it! He asked her out."

"Good for him," Ginny said brightly. "What did she say?"

"She said yes," Luna smiled.

"It's about time," Ginny said with a squeal of delight.

"Where were you heading?"

"Room of Requirement."

"Reading more?" Luna asked curiously as the two started towards the room.

"Yeah, I was trying to figure out more of my powers. Like, can I control it?"

"Is it still coming in random bursts?"

"Yep," Ginny sighed. "I don't understand it, but it usually comes when someone is thinking something really big."

"Does that happen a lot?" Luna inquired.

"Not too often; mostly around Harry. It happened once around Draco, too."

"Draco?"

"Yeah, in the common room. It was like a blast of fury, fear and pain, all at once."

"Is it still scary?"

"Not as much as before." Ginny shrugged. "But still, being around Harry…his mind blows me away. Like, I actually feel like his thoughts will rip me apart. They're so strong."

"Harry's very special that way." Luna nodded.

"More then special. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders. It's too much pressure."

"Does it happen every time you're in a room with him?" Luna asked curiously.

"Mostly. Yesterday evening, when we were looking for our common rooms, it didn't happen then.

But this morning in the common room it happened. I just feel really bad because Harry doesn't know what's happening to me, but I can't very much talk to him about it without getting knocked out by his thoughts."

"Maybe you should get Ron or me to talk to him for you," Luna suggested.

"No, I have to take care of this. It's a really big thing, and I want to tell him myself. That's why I have to figure this out."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Ginny smiled. "Don't worry about it; I'll handle it. Harry will understand. He always does."

"So you're not still mad-"

"Ginny!" a voice called, cutting Luna off.

The two turned around to find Dean hurrying to catch up with them.

"Oh boy," Ginny muttered so only Luna could hear, who nodded grimly.

"Should I leave?"

Ginny stared at the approaching Dean for a moment, and then nodded.

"I'd better deal with him now, alone."

"Good luck," Luna whispered, then said aloud, "I'll tell you what Aiyana has to say." With that, she took off as Dean stopped in front of Ginny.

"Hey, Dean," Ginny said with a forced smile.

"Ginny, can we talk?"

"I guess nothing's stopping you," Ginny said roughly. _Why can't you just leave me alone?_

_---_

Draco sighed, folded his arms across his chest, and then looked back up at Harry.

"I'm back because I was forced to be."

"By who?"

"By people, Potter," Draco growled. "Why do you care so much, anyway?"

"Because I think you might have something for me."

Draco let out a little laugh.

"You think so?"

"Now I know so, Malfoy," Harry said, annoyed. "So why don't you just tell me already?"

"Now's not the time or place," Draco said.

"Then when?"

"Soon. Really soon," Draco said ominously.

"Malfoy, don't be such a git! Just tell me."

"I don't wanna," Draco sneered, mimicking a bratty child.

Harry shook his head.

"Anything else?" Draco taunted.

"Yes. What do you know about the Dragon Games?"

Draco's face became blank again before answering, "It's a series of tests in game form, and there's a prize at the end."

"What kind of prize?"

"Depends on what you want."

"What's that mean?"

"It means the prize can vary, depending on the winner."

"How do you know about this stuff?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's black magic, Potter, to rise up the Stadium for the Dragon Games. No one in their right mind would raise it up without a lot of very good wizards around."

"Okay…that still doesn't answer the question," Harry said. "Do you know of it because it's dark magic?"

Draco shook his head, and then shrugged.

"A bit because of that, but also because I've studied it."

"What for?"

"I want to play."

"You want to play The Dragon Games?"

"That's what I said." Draco shrugged.

"And who exactly were you planning on playing with?"

"_I _wasn't exactly planning on anything," Draco muttered. "But they tell me it's you, Potter. I'm supposed to play with you."

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-Number Twelve Grimmauld Place –_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

"_Harry, is this really the time for this?" Arthur Weasley asked as he and his wife entered an empty room._

"_It's important. Just contact Mad-Eye and Tonks. I'll get Lupin," Harry said. _

"_Okay, Harry." Arthur nodded._

_Harry left the room and turned to Hermione._

"_Get the Weasleys if you can."_

"_Alright," Hermione agreed, nodded, then apparated._

_Harry moved through the house, looking for Lupin. He even summoned up enough courage to ask some of the relatives if they had seen him, but none of them had. He made his way up through the house and to the attic. He didn't know why Lupin would be there, unless he was hiding from everyone like he and Hermione had been._

_He heard a rustle of noises as he got closer to the attic, and his mind immediately thought of Kreacher. However, he knew the foul creature was with Dobby, or at least, he was supposed to be. _

_Harry moved to open the attic, and the moment he did, he immediately regretted it. Harry turned away from the scene, and Lupin and Tonks, still dressed, but clearly going at it, jumped apart. _

_Harry's face turned red in embarrassment as he turned back to them._

"_Erm, sorry to er, interrupt. I'm sorry."_

_Lupin and Tonks had turned red too, and Tonks was quickly buttoning up her shirt._

_"Harry, what's g-going on?" Lupin stuttered._

_"There's a meeting going on...Er, I'm really sorry to interrupt," Harry muttered again._

_"It's okay, Harry," Tonks assured him. "We probably shouldn't have been doing that, anyway."_

_Lupin looked at her for a moment, and then turned back to Harry._

"_Do you need us at the meeting, Harry?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Okay, we'll be right down," Tonks said with a smile._

_Harry nodded and quickly shut the door._

Oh man_, he thought. _That was awkward

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-Pansy Parkinson's House –_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_Pansy and Millicent both stood in front of Blaise with their hands folded, looking stern. They were in Pansy's over-decorated dark bedroom, with books sprawled out._

_"I will not turn into a woman!" Blaise shouted. "What, are you both bloody mental?"_

_"It's just for a little while, Blaise," Pansy cooed. "I promise. But in order for this to work, you have to do it. Otherwise, we'll just have to find someone else. It'll wear off by the time we get to school, I promise."_

_"You two are evil," Blaise grumbled._

_"Purely," Pansy agreed with a wink. _

_"I have the spell right here," Millicent said._

_"Do I have to? Right now?" Blaise groaned. _

_"We have a special party to crash, so yes, now."_

_"Why couldn't you get your boyfriend to do this?"_

_Pansy angrily grabbed Blaise by the robes._

"_Because a) he's not my boyfriend, and b) because I hate him."_

_"Why? He's practically in the inner circle now, since he killed Dumbledore."_

_Pansy just pursed her lips and let Blaise go. She, unlike the two next to her, knew that Draco Malfoy had not succeeded in his mission. She knew it, because Draco had practically given it away when Snape and he showed up at the Death Eater celebration after Albus' death. He may have fooled the Dark Lord with his lie, but she knew him better then that. He denied it all when she had talked to him alone, but she knew there was something that he was not telling her._

_"Yes, well, let's just do the spell already," Pansy muttered. "The faster we do this, the faster we can tell the Dark Lord of our plans for his little assignment."_


	5. Secrets and Letters

"Ginny," Dean said breathlessly. "How are you?"

"Oh, erm, pretty good. Yourself?" Ginny answered.

"I'm good," Dean smiled brightly. "You sure you're good?"

Ginny laughed a bit before saying, "Yes, I'm sure, Dean. Why?"

"You look a little upset about something."

_About you talking to me, maybe. Or maybe the fact that I cannot read your thoughts right now. _

"Oh, not upset here. I'm great."

"Great." Dean nodded. "And how's Luna?"

"She's fine," Ginny said. "What's going on, Dean?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to chat with you," Dean said, avoiding her eyes.

"I see," Ginny said, not believing a word.

"Where were you going?"

"I was going to, ah, get a book."

"Oh. Are you still going to be on the Quidditch team?"

"Probably," Ginny answered.

_Stop asking me stupid questions, please._

"That's cool."

"Okay…well…" Ginny started awkwardly, searching for something to say.

"I'm rooming with Harry," Dean said quickly.

"Oh." Ginny blinked. "That wasn't an off the wall question at all."

Dean ignored her comment and continued, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm not mad at you."

"Mad at me?" Ginny asked, bewildered.

"For dating Harry," Dean said. "In fact, he and I are getting along fine."

Ginny tried to keep a straight face while the thought _boys can be so stupid at times _ran through her head.

"And I know that we had a little tiff over everything that happened and all…"

"Yeah." Ginny nodded.

_Your point, Dean?_

"But, what would you say to going out with me again?"

Ginny's mouth fell open, disbelieving what she heard.

"What?"

"I love you, Ginny. I don't want to lose you to someone else again."

"Dean!" Ginny yelled angrily. "No! I won't go out with you!"

"But-"

"And you don't love me," Ginny assured him.

"Yes, I do," Dean said, taking a hold of her shoulders. "Look at me. I know how I feel, and I feel this way about you."

"Let go of me," Ginny said, moving away. "Dean, you're my friend if you want to be, but we need to move on. There's not going to be an 'us' anymore, because I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but no, I won't go out with you."

"Ginny…I don't think I can handle 'just friends'."

"Then I guess you can't be anything to me," Ginny said with finality before she started to walk away.

_I'm sorry, Dean._

"Gin, wait!"

Ginny paused and slowly turned around.

"Just answer me this. Is it because you still love Harry?"

There was a pregnant pause as Dean awaited her answer.

"No, I don't still love Harry," Ginny said softly. "I'm in love with him."

Dean's face was blank as he said, "He's a lost cause, Ginny."

"I know that." Ginny gave a small smile, then turned on her heel and left towards the Room of Requirement.

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-Leaky Cauldron-_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_Percy opened his mouth to answer, and just as he did, a popping sound came from in front of the table, and Hermione appeared._

_Percy groaned and rolled his eyes._

"_Excuse me, Hermione. We're in the middle of a family thing. Go away."_

_"Don't talk to her like that!" Ron yelled, upset._

_"Then you make her go away," Percy muttered._

_"What is it, Hermione?" Charlie asked._

_"Well, Harry is calling for a meeting to take place," Hermione explained._

_"What sort of meeting?" Ron questioned._

_"It's about the news in the daily prophet."_

_"Well, we're already discussing that, so go," Percy shot at her. Then at Ron's look, he added only a bit more nicely, "Please go."_

_"Well, if you don't want to join in on the meeting, that's all right, I think," Hermione said quickly. "I mean, if you guys are talking about something much more important, then I'm sure Harry will understand."_

_"We are," Percy assured._

_The others thought for a moment, and silently concurred that they'd rather hear what the Prophecy was about._

_"We'll catch up later, Hermione," Bill said. _

_"All right." Hermione nodded. _

_"Wait, could you send Ginny up here?" Charlie asked._

_"Oh, sure." Hermione thought for a moment. "How's she going to get up here?"_

_"Floo-Powder," Charlie explained with a smile._

_Hermione nodded, slightly embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that._

"_Okay, I'll send her," Hermione said before apparating._

_"Let's wait till Ginny gets here," Charlie suggested._

_"If you must insist," Percy said impatiently._

_"Don't be such a git, Percy," Ron said with an air of annoyance. _

_And the other boys smiled in agreement._

---

Breakfast was finished and the plates had been cleared. Hermione and Ron were going over their new class schedules.

"Do we have any classes together?" Ron asked, taking Hermione's schedule and comparing it. "Oh, Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Who's teaching it?" Hermione asked.

"No clue." Ron shrugged. "At least we don't have to worry about Snape anymore. Oh, and fancy that, we have double potions."

"Together?" Hermione asked hopefully, peering over.

"Yep," Ron said, giving her a smile. Hermione smiled back.

"Where is Harry?" Ron asked, finally realizing he wasn't there.

"Oh, um, he said something about looking for someone earlier. I'm not really sure where he went."

"Figures." Ron shrugged. "He's always so secretive lately. I don't get it."

"He's got a lot on his mind is all, Ron."

"But we could help him though it," Ron sighed. "Well, he'd better show up sometime to get his schedule."

"I'm sure he will."

Ron was about to say something else when Hermione shushed him with a finger.

"Professor Aiyana's about to speak."

The Headmistress was standing from the staff table.

"Good morning. I hope you all enjoyed your breakfast," Aiyana said. The hall fell into a hush. "Now, a few announcements. The Forbidden Forest is still off limits to all students. No magic in the corridors. All the basics are still in effect. However, I know you are all quite curious about the Quidditch situation." She paused as many of the students nodded in agreement. "Well, I've discussed it with Madam Hooch, and we have both concluded that we will have five teams instead of four. Anyone interested in being a Captain should see Madam Hooch within this week. Try-outs will start when the Captain of the team decides, and then the team will decide on a decent name." Aiyana smiled at the students. "And with that, I leave you to go start your education. Have a wonderful rest of the day."

"I wonder if Harry's going to go out for Captain this year," Hermione marveled.

"Doubtful," Ron said. "He didn't seem that interested when I talked to him about it this morning."

"I don't think he should give up Quidditch. It's a good way for him to get his mind off things," Hermione said, thoughtfully.

"I don't think he believes he can take that kind of break."

Hermione nodded, then spotted Pig flying into the room with a green envelope.

"You have mail, Ron."

---

Ginny exited the Room of Requirement and headed back towards the Great Hall. She had to pick up her schedule from Luna.

As she went, she tried hard to concentrate on the thoughts of students she passed, but it wasn't working. Nothing was coming to her. She was getting so aggravated as she entered the Hall, that she ran face first into a barn owl.

"Ouch!" Ginny cried, and then realized the owl had brought her a letter. "Oh."

The owl nipped her as she started to take a green envelope off its leg.

"Sorry," she told the bird, which took off the moment she untied the letter. She began to open it as Luna approached her.

"Mail?" Luna asked.

"Uh-huh," Ginny answered, distracted.

"Your brother got a letter exactly like that," Luna said, handing Ginny her schedule.

"Thanks." Ginny took her schedule, and then began to read the letter.

_Ginny,_

_I have something important to discuss with you and Ron. Meet me tomorrow an hour before your classes start in the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts._

_Percy_

Ginny gulped.

_Oh no. I think he knows._

---

Ron handed the letter from Percy to Hermione.

"I don't get it. He couldn't have found out more about the Prophecy, could he?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, but it sounds important," Hermione said. "Are you going to meet him?"

Ron didn't answer, lost in thought.

Hermione stared at him, unsure if she should break his concentration.

"Ron!" came Ginny's slightly perturbed voice.

"Hmm?" Ron asked, coming out of his daze.

Ginny, followed by Luna, approached them.

"Did Percy send you a letter?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah." Ron nodded. "Are we meeting him?"

"I think we have to," Ginny said. "But I, erm, need to talk to you. In private."

"What is it?" Ron asked with a frown.

"Come on," Ginny insisted.

Ron nodded, and then turned to Hermione.

"Give Harry his schedule if he comes in."

Hermione agreed, and the two took off. Hermione and Luna were left pondering what was going on.

---

"What do you mean, play with me?" Harry asked. "Who told you this?"

"I told you already; people." Draco stated. "But yes, we're supposed to be on some sort of team effort in this. Sounds incredibly lame, but that's how it is."

"I'm not going to do Dark Magic to play a game with you!" Harry exclaimed. "No way, Malfoy."

"Well, I'm not that keen to play the game with _you_ either, Potter!" Draco said. "But there's something in it for both of us."

"What exactly is in it for me?" Harry asked.

"A prize."

"What sort of prize?"

"Well, not the actual game prize. That prize has to mutual between the two winners. But I, as you say it, do have something for you," Draco admitted, blank-faced.

"And what's that?"

"I can't tell you until you agree to the game."

"You're a cunning bastard, you know that?"

"I know that." Draco grinned. "Well, what do you say?"

"Can you tell me what the prize contains or anything?" Harry asked.

Draco thought for a moment.

"It's sort of a thing to do with communication. That's all I can tell you."

"Communication?" Harry sighed.

_That doesn't help._

"Yep."

"What's in this game for you?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Well, apart from the end prize, I don't want to tell you," Draco said snippily.

"What exactly do you think the prize is that we could possibly agree on?"

Draco just smiled.

"Damn you, Malfoy!" Harry said angrily. "You're so annoying."

Draco nodded, and then frowned.

"So, why were you back here in the first place?"

"I wanted to think about some stuff," Harry said shortly.

"Important life or death stuff?"

"Some of it. Why?"

"I don't know. You looked more spastic then usual."

"Spastic?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes. "What does that mean?"

"You always look funny when you're upset and thinking. It's quite amusing, really."

"I'm glad I'm entertaining for you, Malfoy."

"Me too. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with you at all."

"Well, you could leave me alone and I wouldn't much care."

"I think you'd miss me, Potter."

"I very much doubt it."

"Sure you would. You'd miss my crazy antics," Draco joked.

"What in the world are you on, Malfoy?"

Draco grinned.

"I'm on nothing, Potter. I just felt like riling you up a bit. It's very easy to do."

"Whatever, Malfoy. Go away."

"Are you in or out?"

"I have to think about it," Harry said.

"Of course you do. Couldn't do anything spontaneous in your life, now could you?"

"Shut it! I like to be prepared."

"Fine, think on it. But do it quickly; this game is going to take all year if you take too damn long."

"How long is the game?"

"No clue. Why don't you look it up?" Draco asked coolly as he brushed past Harry and went downstairs.

_Maybe I will, _Harry thought before he pulled out the letter from his robes. _Now what can this possibly be about?_

---

Ginny took Ron towards an empty classroom, and when she secured the door, she turned to him.

"Ron, can I trust you to keep a secret?"

Ron stared, taken aback.

"What sort of secret?"

"It's about something I did."

"Did with whom?" Ron asked suspiciously. "Not with a boy, right? You didn't do anything with a boy?"

"No, Ron! I didn't do anything that would warrant a secret label with a boy."

"Oh, good," Ron said, relived. "Then what?"

"You have to promise me you won't say anything to Percy when he comes!"

"What did you do?"

"Promise, Ron."

"Gin, I can't do that unless I know what you did."

"I'm your sister. Can't you make a promise to your sister without knowing what it's about?"

"Ginny!"

"Please. Just promise me?"

"Alright, alright, I promise."

"Thank you," Ginny smiled. "I, erm, took something from Percy."

"What did you take?"

"The Prophecy book."

"You did what? Why?" Ron asked, mouth open.

"To read up in it," Ginny explained. "I needed to know more. Just because you were satisfied with that crappy translation doesn't mean we all were."

"Do the others know?"

"Er, yes. Everyone but Bill."

"Why are you telling me this? I mean, wouldn't it have been better if I didn't know you had it when Percy comes to interrogate us? As that's what I assume he's here to do."

"Yes, it would have been, if I didn't need you to make up a story with me."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to try and convince Percy that he left it at Harry's house, and assure him its safest there."

"Why, exactly?" Ron asked, confused.

"Because Percy wants the book back, but I think both of us know that it's better in our hands." Ginny paused as Ron nodded. "And no matter what Percy says, you have to promise me that you'll keep to the story."

Ron stared at her for a moment, before answering, "I promise, Ginny. But you know that I'm not the greatest at pretending things, or lying about things."

"I know, which is why I want you to say as little as possible. Mostly just agree with me if you can. I need to trust you Ron. Otherwise, you best not show up tomorrow." Ginny thought for a moment. "Actually, that might be best."

"Oh, shut it!" Ron said, annoyed. "I'll handle it. He'll just corner me alone if I don't deal with him immediately."

"Good point," Ginny nodded. "So you can handle this?"

"I can handle this," Ron assured.

_At least, I think I can._

"Good, because I'm counting on you."

---

Harry opened the envelope, and found inside a pendant of a dragon on a golden chain. Harry pulled it out and examined it. It was silver in color with emeralds for eyes, was in the shape of a Hungarian Horntail with its mouth open and teeth bearing angrily. But unlike his model from the Tournament, it was not animated.

Reaching back into the envelope, Harry pulled out a letter and began to read.

_Dear Harry Potter,_

_Welcome back to Hogwarts. I'm sure you're very curious to figure out who I am at this point. I'd like to assure you that you will not figure it out until I am ready for you to know. _

_The dragon pendant I have given you is for the ritual involved in summoning up the Games of the Dragon. Do not loose it. I trust enough in you to know that you have already spoken with Draco Malfoy and he has told you about the Games. _

_I'm sure you are still wary about the situation, but given the circumstances, you can't really lose out here. Remember what I told you in my first letter; the knowledge and prize you win here will be greatly beneficial to the war against Voldemort. _

_When you are sure about your position in the game, I will have another letter for you the next night, containing information on the items you will need._

_Trust in me,_

_The Angel of Reason_

Harry groaned.

_Sure, just give me more questions and don't answer anything._

"Harry?" Hermione's voice came from behind him.

"Hermione?" he asked, turning around.

"You're going to be late for class. I had just about given up on looking for you," Hermione said, handing him his schedule.

"Oh, thanks," Harry muttered, his mind still on the letter. "Where are you going?"

"I was just checking in here for you. I'm on my way to Ancient Runes," Hermione said. "And you better go quickly. Class is going to start."

"Right." Harry nodded. "Did Aiyana have anything important to say?"

"No," Hermione said, looking at the letter in his hand. "I have to go Harry. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Hermione quickly rushed out of the tower.

Harry glanced down at his schedule, then started to head towards Charms, while pulling the pendant over his head and tucking it in his shirt.

---

_-Summer-_

_-A Dark Mansion-_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_Pansy Parkinson stood outside the darkened Mansion. It was older, but still in decent shape. She knocked on the door twice, waited a moment, and then knocked again._

_There was a hushed murmur from inside, and a black haired man opened the door. He was clearly a Death Eater._

_"Parkinson, are you here to update your report for the Dark Lord?_

_"Yes, sir." Pansy nodded. _

_"Then enter," the Death Eater invited, stepping aside as Pansy stepped in. The door closed immediately after she entered._

_"Follow me."_

_The man led her through the entrance room and into a small room with two couches._

"_Have a seat, Miss Parkinson."_

_She did, and he sat across from her._

_"How are you progressing in your plans?" the man asked._

_"Oh, well, aren't I going to speak with-" _

_"You will speak to me and no one else until you have proved yourself. Now, please, explain what you have."_

_"Right," Pansy said awkwardly. "Well, I, erm, I talked to Millicent Bulstrode and Blaise Zabini. They're ready to do whatever you need. I also have made arrangements to get a few items we need for the spell. There's a wedding occurring soon, and that's when we plan to make our first move."_

_"Very well," the man said. "No problems, I hope?"_

_"None so far."_

_"Very good, Miss Parkinson. You just might make a decent Death Eater yet. You may see yourself out." _


	6. The Summer Wedding

_-Summer-_

_-Number Twelve Grimmauld Place –_

_-Two days before the wedding-_

_Hermione appeared in the room that Harry had designated to be the meeting room. Lupin, Tonks, Harry, Mad-Eye, Arthur, Molly and Ginny were all inside, waiting for her and her supposed company._

"_Well?" Harry asked, seeing that no one was with her._

"_They're in the middle of something right now," Hermione explained, "and they wanted to know if they could borrow Ginny for a moment."_

"_Oh," Ginny said quickly. "Yeah, I'll go."_

_Harry nodded as she scurried out of the room._

"_Alright then," Harry started. "I assume that none of you have looked at this morning's _Daily Prophet_, because of all the disruption with family we've had this morning." _

"_What happened, Harry?" Arthur asked._

"_Hermione, care to explain?" Harry asked. He knew she was better at public speaking then he was, anyway._

"_Alright." Hermione nodded before addressing the room. "Well, it seems that at least a half dozen prophesies were stolen from The Department of Mysteries last Thursday. All of them contained vital information about the war against You-Know-Who, and all of them have details about the weapons and heroes that may be in the war."_

"_Oh dear," Molly whispered._

"_What exactly is your plan, Harry?" Remus asked._

"_Well, I wanted you and Mr. Weasley to go and see if you could find out any inside information they may have left out. As for Tonks and Mad-Eye, look into who stole them, set up a watch on the prophecy area, and interrogate the ones who were supposed to be on watch. I dunno; we just need more information on what was inside the prophecies, so that we can send protection to the people involved. Maybe even bring them back here for safekeeping, or set up a safe haven somewhere."_

"_Good idea," Mad-Eye agreed. "When do you want this done?"_

"_Well, I know you're busy Mr. Weasley, but maybe you could get Mrs. Weasley to entertain for a bit. You don't have to be gone long, and you can always ask other members to help out," Harry said unsurely. "I'm not very good at this whole orders thing still."_

"_It's quite alright, Harry, dear," Molly smiled at him._

"_We'll get on it, don't worry, Harry," Tonks said._

"_Well, thanks guys," Harry said. "That's all I really wanted to talk about. So I guess you can get back to the whole festivities, and whatever else you were doing," Harry said, glancing at Lupin and Tonks, who quickly looked down in embarrassment. _

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-Leaky Cauldron-_

_-Two day's before the wedding-_

_Ginny had just been informed of what her five brothers had just learned from Percy, and a small "Oh, goodness," was all she could manage to say._

"_Yeah, and he was just about to explain what it actually said," Fred said._

"_So, tell us, Percy, what did the translator translate?"_

_Percy nodded, then pulled out a newer piece of parchment, and began to read aloud._

"_There are seven with the Power of Fire. They are made of fire, and look of fire. Each of the seven was given a gift of pure magic at birth. Together untied, they can control, read, and dictate even the most strongest of Wizards. Emotions are a powerful weapon, and combined are unstoppable. To the youngest Fire child, a gift of feeling. To the oldest, a gift of creating. To the second born, a gift of repression. To the third born, a gift of revealing. For the first born twin, a gift of relaying. And to his twin, a gift of removing. Finally, to the sixth born, a gift of magnifying. These seven will be great assets in the dark times that lie in their generation; they will aid whoever's side they're on, and may crush the enemy to near ruins if their powers are used appropriately."_

_All of them stayed quiet when Percy had finished reading, until Ginny finally broke the silence._

"_Weapon?" Ginny finally asked._

"_Gifts?" Ron asked._

_Percy nodded and said, "Sorry, this is all I know."_

_"So, wait," Fred said. "We have powers? How come we don't know about them?"_

_"Well, I'm not sure, but I think we've all experienced these powers throughout our lives; we just haven't realized what we were doing," Percy said. "I think that we have to learn how to use them, in order for us to have full control."_

_"And how do we do that?" Ginny asked._

_"I don't know." Percy shrugged._

_"So, what happens now?" Bill asked. _

_Percy again just gave his brother a shrug._

_"You're not very much help, you know that, Percy?" Bill muttered._

_"I'm not sure about the rest of you," Ron started, "but I'm not so keen on being a tool in this war."_

_"But Ron, we have to do something! If we have this much power, then we have to help Harry out in the war," Ginny said._

_"But none of us understand it, and none of us know how to learn to control it," Ron muttered. "I say we leave well enough alone."_

_"Don't be stupid Ron!" Fred let out._

_"Yeah, Ron, you want to help Harry out, right?" George added._

_"Yeah, I do." Ron shrugged._

_"Well," Percy said, "I say we try and learn on our own. After all, we all have separate lives, and we can't very much well get together. Or at least I can't; I have work."_

_Everyone gave Percy a slight glare._

_"Well, no, he's right," Bill said after a moment. "We do have our own lives. I think it's best for everyone."_

_"Should we be getting to Harry's meeting?" Ron asked._

_"Yeah, we should." Charlie nodded. "And Bill should be getting back to his fiancé." _

_Bill gave a small smile and nodded._

_"Alright, Ginny, you got Floo-Powder to get home?" Charlie asked._

_"I'll see you there."_

_"Just one thing guys," Percy said._

_"What's that?"_

_"Don't tell anyone else about this. We could all be in danger if anyone knew." _

_Percy disapparated from the spot and the rest of them stared at where he once stood._

_"Something tells me he didn't go back to party central," Bill muttered._

_"He's a jerk. We'll just tell mum he had work," Fred said._

_"Right," Charlie said. "Well, let's go."  
_

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-A Grassy Field-_

_-Twenty minutes before the wedding-_

_Bill was standing nervously away from the crowd, awaiting his bride and practicing his vows. Ron was with him as well, helping him out._

_"Did that sound too corny?" Bill asked Ron for the hundredth time._

_"I told you yes the first time!" Ron muttered._

_"How should I change it?" Bill asked, reciting the line in a different way._

_"Still mushy," Ron frowned. "Maybe if you leave out the bit about the train of love."_

_"You think?" he asked, wrinkling his nose. "Yeah, I'll leave that out."_

"_Why'd you agree to write your own vows in the first place?" _

_"Fleur said it would be more meaningful," Bill sighed. "I can't do this! This whole speech sucks."_

_"You should hear mum's toast speech," Ron grinned._

_"Arg!" Bill groaned, and started to recite again. _

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-A Small Room-_

_-Fifteen minutes before the wedding-_

_Ginny, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were helping Fleur with her hair and dress._

_"Does it still stick out?" Fleur asked as Mrs. Weasley worked on the back of her dress._

_"Nope, it's lovely," Mrs. Weasley assured._

_"Wonderful!" Fleur smiled. "'Ermione, would you see if Gabrielle is done with zose flowers?"_

_"Sure," Hermione said._

_She made her way out of the small room and into an even smaller hallway. As she walked into the entrance room, three figures passing by the window caught her eye._

It can't be,_ she thought. She could have sworn she saw Pansy and Millicent accompanied with a girl that looked oddly like Blaise. She shook her head. _They wouldn't be invited_, she assured herself. _

_Gabrielle was arranging a small bouquet and smiled brightly when she saw Hermione._

_"Is she looking wonderful?" Gabrielle asked._

_Hermione smiled and nodded._

"_Yes. Is the bouquet done?" _

_"Nearly," Gabrielle said, and turned to a clock. "She 'as ten minutes till we 'ave to 'ead out."_

_Hermione nodded, and as she went back towards the room, she glanced back out the window to see if she could spot the three girls, but no one was in sight._

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-A Grassy Field-_

_-Shortly after the wedding-_

_Harry and Hermione hung in the back of the field as the Weasleys were taking pictures. Both of them were in awe of the wedding that had just taken place._

_"I've never seen anything quite so magical," Hermione said slowly. "It was so beautiful."_

_"And the spell," Harry said. "What did it do to them?"_

_"It was like a binding spell; it ties two hearts together forever."_

_"Is that what all magical weddings are like?"_

_"I'd assume so," Hermione said. "I haven't seen any others though, so I wouldn't know." _

_Hermione looked around again for any sight of the girls. _

_"Who are you looking for, Hermione?" Harry finally asked. "You've been doing that through the whole wedding!"_

_"I thought I saw Pansy and Millicent earlier, and er, maybe Blaise's sister. Does he have a sister?"_

_"I dunno," Harry said. "Do you think they'd try and crash the reception?"_

_"I have no clue. They might." Hermione shrugged. "The only thing I want to know is why they would be here."_

_"Yeah, up to no good, most likely," Harry muttered._

_"Fleur seems very happy," Hermione said, watching the group take pictures._

_"Yeah, so does Bill. Actually, all the Weasleys do," Harry said with a smile._

_"It makes everything seem so happy," Hermione agreed. _

_Harry nodded._

_"Did you manage to see if Percy showed up?" Hermione asked, looking at the group and noticing that Percy was not among them._

_"I don't believe he did," Harry sighed. "So did Ron ever tell you what he had to talk to them about?"_

_"Not really," Hermione said. "He said Percy had come to apologize for being such a jerk."_

_"Yeah, he told me that too." Harry nodded. "But I think Percy was up to something. Even if Ron was telling the truth, he must have been apologizing for a reason."_

_"You're right, Harry. Percy must have had a vendetta, but Ron either doesn't know, or doesn't want to share," Hermione said grumpily._

_"Do you think it would be that big of a deal, that Ron wouldn't share it with us?"_

"_I'd hope he would share anything with me, but I guess not."_

_When he finished this sentence, Harry realized something was wrong. He glanced at Hermione for a moment, realizing how much Ron was hurting her by keeping whatever it was a secret._

"_He'll tell us when he's ready," Harry said supportively, and immediately thought of the letter from the Angel of Reason._

_Hermione smiled, and they both turned to see Ron heading towards them._

_"Harry, mom wants you for some pictures with us," he informed._

_"Oh, alright," Harry said quickly._

_"She'll want pictures of you too, so just stay here, okay?" Ron asked, giving a small smile to Hermione._

"_But I shouldn't be in the pictures. I'm not family."_

_"Yeah, Ron, neither am I," Harry said slowly, though the only people he considered family were the Weasleys._

_"You're both family," Ron said with a smile. "Now come on, Harry. We'll be back for you, Hermione."_

_The two took off, and Hermione looked around again. This time, she saw the three girls. They were looking at her, smiling evilly._

Oh, wonderful,_ Hermione thought sarcastically as the three girls came over to her._

_"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, upset._

_"We're just here for the food," Pansy smiled._

_"Pansy, this is a special time for these people. You have no right to crash this wedding!" Hermione said._

_"Oh, don't I?" Pansy leered. _

_Hermione stared at Blaise for a moment, and then smiled disbelievingly._

"_Blaise? What are you doing turning yourself into a women?"_

_Blaise frowned, his face looking venomous before he spat, "What's it to you, Granger?"_

_"You have such lovely hair, Granger!" Pansy snickered._

_Hermione suddenly felt a wave of fear as Millicent put a hand on her head._

_"Get off of me!" Hermione yelled, pushing away her hand. "Ouch!" she cried as Millicent took some of her hair with her._

_"I think it's disgusting," Millicent said to Pansy, and Hermione glared._

"_And what are you doing here at this wedding?" Pansy asked with a devilish smile. "Here to support your boyfriend?"_

_At this, Hermione rolled her eyes._

"_Go away. You three are very inconsiderate and rude."_

_"Such big words, Granger," Blaise mocked._

_"Too big for you?" Hermione scoffed._

_"Watch it, Granger," Pansy barked. "We've got our eyes on you."_

_"I'm sure you do," Hermione said, getting annoyed._

_"Hey! What are you three doing here?" asked a very angry Ron. Hermione looked up to see Ron coming towards them, wand out. "No one invited you!"_

_"Defending your precious Hermione?" Blaise asked coyly._

_"Blaise?" Ron asked, confused._

_"Ugh!" Blaise cried, annoyed, and took off in the other direction._

_"Yeah, that's right! Get out of here!" Ron yelled after him._

_"Enjoy the festivities while you can, Granger," Pansy said with a sneer, and took off after Blaise._

_"Yeah!" Millicent said rather dumbly, and stumbled away._

_"What the bloody hell did they want?" Ron asked, looking after them._

_"No clue," Hermione replied. _

_"Well, come on," Ron said, giving one last glare as the three went out of sight. "Picture time." _

_Hermione nodded and left with Ron, rubbing her head where Millicent had pulled out her hair. _

_---_

_-Summer-_

_-Number Twelve Grimmauld Place-_

_-A few days after the wedding-_

_It was just Harry, Lupin, Mad-Eye, and a man in red robes in the house. Lupin was leading the man– who was in near hysteria- to the couch, and Mad-Eye was talking Harry._

_"He's the only one we could make out from the prophecies, but he hasn't been making much sense since we told him people were trying to kill him," Mad-Eye told him, causing Lupin to shake his head in disagreement._

"_You told him that Voldemort's army was coming to get him, and that every second he was living out of hiding was another second they could identify him, murder his family, and destroy him and everything he knew."_

_Mad-eye grinned guiltily and then growled, "Well, it's the truth, isn't it?"_

_Harry ignored them, instead asking his own question._

"_What are we planning to do with him?"_

_"Well, Harry, it's really up to you," Lupin said. "But we can let him stay here, or I think I know a place that he could stay at if you'd prefer._

_"I'd rather you sent him to the place you know," Harry said. He didn't really like the idea of anyone else staying at his Godfather's old house._

"_Well, then once he's a bit more confident, I can send him up there. But Harry, can I speak with you for a moment, in the other room?" Lupin asked._

_"Sure." Harry shrugged with a nod._

_"Mad-Eye, get him some water. We'll be right back. Oh, and don't say anything else to upset him," Lupin said as an after thought._

_Moody grumbled his agreement to the last statement and then went to the kitchen._

_Harry followed Lupin towards his bedroom, leaving the man alone in the room._

_"Harry, the thing about helping these people out is that a lot of them are under surveillance from You-Know-Who's supporters." Lupin paused for a moment. "That means, Harry, that whoever we send out to help this man get to that house could put the Order itself in danger."_

_"Oh," Harry said. "We can't have that. So what are we going to do?"_

_"We can send him up by himself and hope that nobody will discover him, or leave him here. We can't risk any of our members getting hurt."_

_"You're right." Harry nodded. "Well, let's ask him. If he feels that he can make it to the safe house, then that's his decision."_

_"Harry, are you sure? These people must be important for the war if they're in the prophecy."_

_"Okay, he stays here," Harry sighed, defeated._

_"Good, I was hoping you'd say that," Lupin smiled._

_"Can I speak with him?"_

_"Of course."_

_Harry made his way back to the man. He was calmer now, sipping a cup of water._

_"I told him about the safe house, Remus," Mad-Eye said. "He's interested."_

_"Actually, what would you say to staying here?" Harry addressed the man. "It's safe here. Nobody will find you."_

_"He said I'd be safe at that house, too," the man said, shaking a little._

_"Yeah, well…" Harry trailed off, looking at Lupin for a moment. "It'll be safer here. What's your name?"_

_"I'm not giving my name to anyone!" the man said defensively._

_Harry, shocked, looked at Moody who was tutting._

_"He keeps saying that. Thinks they'll get him if he gives his name. Don't blame him either. After all, he came with us without a second thought after we mentioned the prophecy. What if we had been the Death Eaters?"_

_"Mad-Eye," Lupin warned. "You're making our guest uncomfortable."_

_"He should be scared."_

_"We're not the bad guys here, I promise you," Harry said to the man. "Moody is just a little twitchy."_

_"Twitchy?" Moody repeated, appalled. "After everything I've seen? I've seen a man forced to eat his own friends-"_

_"Moody!" Lupin hushed. "Come on; let's leave Harry to deal with this."_

_Lupin eventually got Mad-Eye to leave, and Harry was left alone with the man._

_"Well, if you're not going to give me your name, I'll give you mine. I'm Harry Potter," Harry introduced, causing the mans jaw to drop._

"The_ Harry Potter?"_

_"Yes." Harry nodded. _

_The man looked down at the carpet._

"_I don't know how to thank you, Mr. Potter."_

_"You don't have to. This is just something I do. And call me Harry."_

_"Right, okay. Harry, are you sure this place is safe?"_

_"Yes, it's spelled off," Harry smiled, trying to assure the man. "No one can get in without my permission. You'll be absolutely safe here. When we find the others in the prophecies, they'll be staying here as well."_

_"But Karlton is already dead," the man said suddenly._

_"What?" _

_"The prophecy mentioned me and my brother Karlton. He died a few days ago."_

_"Oh boy," Harry sighed. "I'm really sorry."_

_The man nodded, not looking Harry in the eye._

_"Look," Harry said, "I promise you that nothing will hurt you here. Just stay put, and Lupin will check on you every once in a while." Harry was desperately trying to think of something supportive to say, but he could only give what he hoped would be the truth, "Just trust me, and nobody will find you." _


	7. Pitfalls of Education

The day had passed by in a blur of notes; Charms had managed to pile on a load of homework that rivaled his Transfiguration homework, and even History of Magic was somehow duller then usual.

Harry met up with Ron and Hermione outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom a few minutes before class started.

"I wonder who they got," Hermione said excitedly as they opened the door and entered.

The classroom was empty, but a book lay on each of their desks. Hermione immediately went to a book and picked it up.

"_Magical Warfare: Tactics of the 19th Century_," Hermione read aloud. "This isn't exactly a Defense book."

"I wonder if this class will be any good," Ron said as he took a seat near the front of the room.

Harry nodded his agreement and sat next to Ron, setting out a quill and parchment. Hermione was walking around the room, and the two boys watched as she went to the teacher's desk and looked at the papers lying in a big stack.

"They made us an itinerary!" Hermione said, almost joyfully.

Ron let out a groan, and then noticed Hermione starting to search the desk. "What are you doing, Hermione?"

"Oh," Hermione said, looking up. "I was just seeing if I could find their name somewhere," she answered sheepishly, walking away from the desk and sitting down on Ron's other side.

"We'll find out soon enough," Harry said. "Class is about to start soon."

Hermione nodded and took out her own quill and parchment.

The door opened, and in rushed a frantic younger-looking woman. She had long crimson hair, dark brown eyes, and was wearing dark emerald robes.

She moved past the trio without seeing them, and went immediately to her desk and picked up the stack of itineraries that Hermione had been looking at. She started to place them on the desks, and gave a loud shriek when she noticed that Hermione was occupying the desk she was setting a paper on.

Hermione gave a slight jump too, and then smiled. "Sorry, professor."

The woman quickly regained her composure and smiled back. "Oh, hello. Sorry, I'm not usually this crazed. Just, first day, you know." She turned to place a paper on Ron's desk and gave a slight jump at the sight of him.

Ron stared at her, unsure of what to say. The woman shook it off, laughed at herself, and continued to place the rest of the papers down.

Students started flooding in and taking their seats. Neville Longbottom took a seat behind Hermione, and when Dean entered the room, he gave Harry a slight glare as he sat next to Seamus in the back of the classroom.

The professor stood at the front of the class, now looking a lot more assured of herself. All the students stared at her, waiting for her to begin.

As the woman opened her mouth to speak, the door opened again, and Draco Malfoy came walking in, late. Harry noted how unusual that was for Malfoy.

Draco took a seat towards the middle of the classroom, and the woman watched him with a blank expression.

"Good evening, Draco. Glad you could join us," she said with a small smile.

"Do I know you?" Draco drawled, giving her a blank look.

The woman stared at him for a moment, and it seemed to Harry that they were having some sort of silent communication.

"Well, everyone, welcome to my class!" the professor said with a smile. "I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Rosaria Snape."

---

The wooden panels of the floor of the house were beginning to rot, the brick walls were covered in moss and vines, and the house was gutted from the inside out. The house was abandoned right beyond fields of cherry trees, and no one currently lived there. That, however, was about to change.

A man dressed in dark red robes entered the house, wearing a hood that shadowed his face. The man was shaking, though not from the cold, as he was very warm under his robes; but from fear. The windows rattled as he closed the front door, and the door made a _crack_. He took in the look of the house, muttering under his breath.

"It's safe here. Nothing will come here. I'm fine, I'm fine."

He turned to see a door leading off into a pitch-black hall. He held his breath as he took care to be silent, walking towards the door.

"They don't know I'm here," he kept saying, trying to assure himself.

He took out a wand from the inside of his robes and lit it. The hall went alight, and he was able to see the room more clearly. It was empty of everything but cobwebs. There was a _snap _asthe door shut behind him and his wand went out. Frantic for his life, the man started to yank at the door, but it didn't budge.

He heard a soft swish of a cloak and he swiveled to see the source, but came to find he couldn't see a thing other than a faint outline of just more hallway. He gave a deep sigh and turned back to the door. It still wouldn't open.

A crackling laugh came from behind him, and the man's heart jumped. He collapsed to the floor, desperately trying to turn the handle.

"Please!" he shouted. "Don't do this!"

The laugh continued, echoing around the hall. He closed his eyes and started to kick the door, banging it with all his might. The laughter was coming closer, and he was shaking even worse. His heart was racing and sweat was starting to form on his forehead.

_Please, _he thought. _Open! _The door snapped open. He quickly crawled back towards the empty room, the floors giving a loud squeak as he scrambled to get back up. His wand dropped from his hand as he braced himself on a wall, using it to move away from the hall.

Then a voice whispered in his ear, "Your turn, Mudblood."

The man felt the figure's robes brush his neck. He was frozen in fear, still shaking like mad.

A quick yank of his hood occurred, and the figure chocked the man, dragging him back into the hall. The door slammed shut, and there was a scream before the harsh words, "Avada Kadavra!" A flash of green light emanated from underneath the door, and then nothing more.

---

Everyone was whispering at once. Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks, and Hermione's hand immediately shot into the air.

Rosaria did a double take, surprised at their reactions. "Well," she said, looking around. "Silence, please!"

Everyone went silent, but Hermione brought her hand up higher.

"Yes?" Rosaria asked, nodding at Hermione.

"Excuse me," Hermione said. "But are you related to Severus Snape, perhaps?"

Rosaria started to smile. "Well, in a matter of speaking, yes." she nodded. "He's my husband."

"Husband?" Ron called out. "Snape's married?"

Harry had the same reaction; he had never really thought of the teachers having personal lives before.

"Yes," Rosaria laughed. "Now, if that's all the personal questions we have, I'd like to move on to your education."

"Where is Snape?" Harry suddenly blurted out, unable to hide his hatred.

Rosaria regarded him with surprise before answering. "I don't believe that's any of your business. And as such, if you don't drop this topic immediately, I will be forced to give you detention."

Harry opened his mouth to say more, but thought better of it and settled on giving her a glare.

"In front of you," Rosaria began to lecture, "is an itinerary, outlining what we will be covering over this term. The book is about the tactics wizards have used in battle from the past century. You will be reading this book along with your defense book from now until the end of the year. And don't be surprised if I give pop quizzes from the readings. You will be expected to take them."

The next ten minutes of her class were spent taking roll and learning what was expected of them. Afterwards, she told them to get out their defense books and read chapter one in class, and chapter twelve for homework. The rest of the class was spent in silence as the students read.

When the class ended, Ron, Hermione, and Harry quickly piled out along with the rest of the students.

"Snape has a wife?" Harry muttered.

"Who in their right mind would marry _him_?" Ron asked.

"No kidding," Harry agreed.

"She seems like a good teacher, though," Hermione said. "At least the book she chose seems to be more informative. And it even deals with how to protect ourselves in the war."

"I wonder if she knows her husband is an evil bastard," Ron said.

"Who knows?" Harry replied. "I wonder if she even knows where he is."

"Maybe that's why she got so mad at you, mate!" Ron said suddenly. "It's probably a touchy subject because he left her."

Hermione made a tutting sound. "You two have some of the most ridiculous theories."

"But it makes sense," Ron said. After a moment, he asked, "Where are you going next?"

"Potions, with you," Hermione said.

"Oh, right," Ron said, his ears turning red. "How about you, Harry?"

"Potions," Harry echoed with a nod.

"Good," Hermione said. "Then afterwards during lunch, we can all discuss the first DA meeting."

"Right." Harry nodded. _I'll just have to research the Dragon Games after dinner._

---

The Potions class, as it turned out, was taught by none other then the Headmistress Aiyana herself. She was just about as strict as McGonagall, but her classroom seemed a bit more fun, even though it was in the dark dungeons. Harry couldn't quite figure her out, but she kept giving the trio odd smiles that none of them could comprehend.

"Okay," Ron said slowly. "This may be just me being crazy, but was the Headmistress smiling at us a lot?"

"I noticed that too!" Harry said.

"She was giving us a lot of smiles," Hermione agreed. "I wonder, maybe she knows something about the Order?"

"Or maybe she's just really friendly," Ron suggested.

Hermione shrugged. "Either way, we're bound to figure it out. Harry, do you have that coin?"

Harry handed Hermione an old coin that was key to deciding when the DA meetings were held.

"So, how about this weekend, after Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Sounds good." Harry nodded.

"Okay," Hermione said, setting the date into the coin. "It's set."

"Great."

"So, Harry, have you found out anything about Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"Not really," he replied. "He's just avoiding any questions I ask, mostly."

Hermione and Ron seemed to believe this answer and left it at that.

Just as they were sitting down for lunch, Hermione made a slight gesture with her eyes towards Harry.

"Oh, right!" Ron said quickly. "Harry, mate, I have a question."

"Yeah?" Harry said curiously, noticing Hermione's look.

"You don't happen to have a date for Hogsmeade weekend, do you?" Ron asked almost innocently.

"No, why?" Harry asked, eyeing him uncertainly

"Oh, well, you know, well…erm…" Ron trailed off, giving Hermione a slight 'I-don't-know-what-to-do,-you-think-of-something' look. Hermione returned the look before turning to Harry.

"Well, you should try," she said quickly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. _Are they trying to get rid of me that weekend? Are they finally hooking up?_

"Alright, I'll try."

"Great," Hermione said with a bright smile.

"Good," Ron concurred, and started to eat.

Harry looked at the two of them for a moment, smiled, and then set to making his plate.

---

After shoveling down a quick dinner that evening, Harry told Ron and Hermione that he had to go to the library. The two, who were so engrossed in each other, barely took notice of him leaving.

Harry entered the quiet library to find Ginny Weasley checking out an older book from Madam Pince.

_Do I want to talk to her, or am I pushing my luck?_ he wondered, looking at the redhead.

When Ginny turned around and saw him, he ventured into a smile, rooted to the spot.

"Hello, Harry," she greeted, returning his smile.

He breathed a sigh of relief. _She's talking to me; that's a good sign._

"Hi, Ginny. How are you?"

"Pretty good, yourself?"

"I'm great. I mean, I'm good," Harry said awkwardly. "What are you checking out?"

"Oh, just a book for some research I'm doing," Ginny explained. "What are you in here for?"

"Oh, research as well."

"Neat. Well, I better run along, Harry. I have to go catch some dinner if I can."

"Yeah, okay. See you later?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Sure. Bye, Harry," Ginny said, leaving the library.

"Bye," Harry said after her.

Harry settled himself into the back area of the library. He knew the book was probably not there. In fact, he knew the most likely area for the book to be in would be the restricted section- especially since it was Dark magic.

He glanced around, wondering how he could possibly get a teacher to sign a note for him to check out the book. There wasn't a teacher at Hogwarts as gullible as Lockhart had been, and he was certain Hagrid wouldn't agree to sign anything unless he was exceptionally drunk.

Harry sighed, taking out a piece of parchment. What would the book be called?He didn't have a clue. Sighing again, he began to write:

_Harry James Potter has permission to check out any books on the subject of the Dragon Games from the restricted section for his research report in my class._

_Cuthbert Binns_

He examined the note carefully. He had chosen the History of Magic teacher, because after all, Binns was the most forgetful teacher in Hogwarts. If asked about the note, he would probably not remember if he gave Harry permission or not.

He brought the letter to Madam Pince who eyed the letter closely. Then, nodding, she turned to Harry. "Cuthbert is letting two students do similar reports?" she asked.

Pretending not to be confused, Harry said "Yeah," nodding.

"Very well, then. I'll get the book for you; we only have one other on the subject."

Madam Pince came back with a fading leather bound book with the title, _The Darkest Games. _ Harry took the book and thanked her, sitting down at a back table.

He opened the cover and glanced at the table of contents. _Summoning The Dragon. The Rules. The Consequences of Losing. The Dragon Prize. _The list went on and on. Harry turned to The Dragon Prize and began to read.

_Perhaps the only reason this game is played is for_

_the prize that can be won at the very end. The prize _

_can be anything a person can possibly think of. The_

_only catch is the two winners both have to want the _

_same prize. Whatever is in both of their hearts will_

_appear at the end of the game. Of course, if both_

_wizards/witches wish for many things, the wizard_

_or witch with the strongest mind frame will have_

_the power to choose the item. The famous wizards_

_dating back to Merlin's time who have joined in the_

_game have won everything from a Time-Turner to a_

_pair of Dragon eggs. _

Harry sighed and then turned to the Consequences chapter.

_As we have discussed earlier in this book, the reasons_

_for joining are not ultimately countered by the _

_consequences that may ensue for failing. Many wizards_

_have lost their minds or their lives playing The Dragon _

_Games. Another side note is once you have joined_

_the game, you may not remove yourself from it without_

_forfeiting, and therefore losing (For more information on_

_how to lose, go to page 382)._

Harry gulped. That didn't sound too hopeful or at all easy. Then, he turned to The Rules chapter.

_The rules are simple and straightforward._

_1. Every participant must have a willing partner._

_2. No backing out after you've entered without forfeiting your_

_life._

_3. Each level of the Dragon Games has a time limit, except _

_for the Game of Trust which is played before each level._

_4. The game must be finished in a year's time or it will be_

_considered a forfeit. _

_5. Both partners must work together in all levels of the game._

_6. Cheating (if possible) will not be tolerated._

_7. No protection, healing, or guiding spells are allowed inside_

_the games._

_8. The Dragon may only be called upon twice in the game._

The library was getting dark, and Harry looked up to find he only had five minutes before the library was closing. He didn't want to be caught with the book by Ron or Hermione, or anyone else, for that matter. He flipped to the first chapter, which was an introduction.

_The Dragon Games was created in 382 B.C., and was _

_created during a war for the soul purpose of finding _

_out how trustworthy their fellow partners were. After_

_the war was finished, the game was hidden until _

_revealed again about two hundred years later._

_The game then added a prize at the end, and was_

_used for entertainment until the excitement died_

_down a few years later. The Dragon Games is now_

_rarely played, and rarely won. It takes a great_

_wizard/witch to win the game, and anyone entering should_

_enlist a powerful wizard or witch to help them bring_

_forth the Dragon._

Harry quickly shut the book and brought it back to Madam Pince.

"You're done?" she asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"For now," Harry muttered. "Am I allowed to check it out again later?"

"If you bring me another note," Madam Pince replied.

"Right." he nodded, before turning to leave the library.

Harry made his way up to his common room, all the while thinking about the Dragon Games. Was there any reason he should participate? Was there a reason he shouldn't, other then the prospect of losing his mind or life? Was that what Malfoy was after? And what was the gift that Malfoy had for him to bribe him into the game?


	8. Entering The Games

Ron and Ginny met in the common room early in the morning.

"Ready for this, Ron?" Ginny asked.

"I think so." Ron nodded.

"Just remember your promise," Ginny reminded. "No matter what Percy says."

"What exactly do you think he's going to say?" Ron asked as they headed out.

Ginny didn't answer, and Ron didn't push her. They made their way down to the entrance hall and found Percy standing there, waiting for them. He had his arms folded across his chest, an ugly look on his face.

"Morning, Percy," Ginny said brightly.

"Yeah, morning." Ron nodded.

"Morning indeed," Percy muttered. "Which one of you has it?"

"Has what?" Ginny asked.

Ron screwed up his face to look confused, but ended up looking like he had swallowed a lemon.

"You know perfectly well what," Percy snapped. "Now tell me."

"What are you talking about, Percy?" Ginny asked innocently. "Honestly, I don't have any idea what you're accusing us of having. Do you Ron?"

"Erm, no, no, what are you talking about, Perce?"

"I could get fired from my job!" Percy screeched. "I need to return it before the prophecy is reported missing!"

"Fired?" Ron blurted out.

"You've misplaced the prophecy?" Ginny gasped. "Percy! Why would you go and do something like that?"

Ron gave Ginny a look as if to say she was being a bit much, but Percy, who was so frantic, didn't realize.

"I've not misplaced anything! You had to have taken it!" Percy said quickly. "I have to get it back!"

"Percy, if I do recall," Ginny started, "I believe you left the prophecy in Charlie's hands when you left, and he felt obligated to bring it somewhere safe. Ask him about it. I think he left it somewhere at Harry's," she finished, nudging Ron to agree.

"Oh, yeah, I think Charlie took it," Ron consented quickly.

"If that book got lost! Don't you two understand? You should have gotten it to me immediately," Percy said, aggravated.

"What would happen if it got lost?" Ron asked apprehensively.

"If it was lost and picked up by the wrong people, then our lives would be in danger! If any one of You-Know-Who's supporters got a hold of it, they would either kill us or turn us against our allies!"

"What?" Ron sputtered.

Ginny quickly sensed trouble coming. "It's safe where it is, I'm sure."

"You can't know that, Ginny," Percy said. "I better go talk to Charlie."

"Wait!" Ron suddenly said. He looked from Ginny to Percy, giving Ginny an apologetic look. "I think I know who has it."

Percy groaned. "Ron, I don't have time for your games."

"I'm not joking. I-I-I…" Ron trailed off, as Ginny was giving him a look of death. Ron sighed, gulped and changed his mind. "Never mind, Percy. Go talk to Charlie. I was just kidding."

Ginny gave him a small smile, and Ron couldn't help but feel relieved that he hadn't betrayed his sister's trust, but nervous about the consequences the prophecy could cause them all.

---

Harry tried all afternoon to find Draco Malfoy, but with little luck. The one time he had managed to see him at all, they both were running late to their next class. So finally, right before dinner, Harry tapped Malfoy's shoulder and told him they needed to talk.

Draco followed him back up to their dormitory, which was empty because Dean and Keifer were down at dinner.

"Well?" Draco asked. "Decided, have you?"

"Not quite, Malfoy," Harry said. "I have a question for you. What makes you think I would risk my own neck to work side by side with you?"

Malfoy shrugged before replying, "I guess because of the thing I'm going to offer you next."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Well, I said I wouldn't tell you what it was until you agreed on the games, but I guess it seems in order for you to accept into the games, I'll have to offer it to you."

Harry watched closely as Draco pulled something out from his robes.

"What I have here is a **Mortuus Sermo; a device that connects directly from this world to the after world." Draco stared at him sternly. "Given the right words and the right thoughts, it can summon up the dead for short amounts of time."**

**Harry stared at him, getting pale in the face.**

**"I think you know exactly what this is intended for in your case, Potter," Draco said, his eyes boring into Harry's.**

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but words escaped him.

"It's not Dark magic; it's just a device that's really rare," Draco explained, knowing that Harry wasn't fully hearing him. "And the only way you're getting it, or the spell to use it, is if you agree to the game."

Harry still didn't say anything, his mind racing.

"I'll give you the device once you agree, and I'll give you the spell once you have won the game with me."

"I could see my parents and Sirius?" Harry finally managed in a hoarse whisper.

"Yes," Draco answered, his cold eyes seeming closed off. "You can speak to anyone you wish- well, only the dead, strictly speaking."

Harry tried to lick his lips, but his mouth had gone dry as well. "Why, Malfoy?"

"Because I need this, Potter." Draco closed his eyes. "This is a game of trust. You'll be finding out if I'm telling the truth in no time at all."

"A game of trust?" Harry said, ignoring the Mortuus Sermo for a moment.

"Yes. You've read a bit, I'd hope."

"Yeah, last night." Harry nodded.

"Well, that's mostly what the game was created for. But I'm not in it for the trust; I'm in it for the prize. Just as I'm sure you are now."

Harry gulped. "What if I agree? When does this happen? What exactly happens when we summon it?"

"This happens whenever you're ready. And as for what happens, I couldn't tell you. I've never done it before."

"Alright then." Harry nodded nervously.

"You accept?" Draco asked with a note Harry detected as hope.

Harry paused for a moment, and then said, "I accept."

Draco nodded, and no expression was seen on his face. "Good. What day? We have to have a good few hours to devote to the Summoning and the first level of the game."

"Hogsmeade weekend?" Harry asked. "A lot of people will be out of the castle then."

"Sounds good to me, Potter." Draco nodded. "Well, if that's all, I'm going down to dinner."

"All right." Harry nodded. "Draco?" Harry asked suddenly, surprising himself.

"It's Malfoy to you, Potter," Draco glared. "We're not suddenly on good terms; I still very much hate you."

"Right," Harry said apologetically. "Malfoy, are you sure this Mortuus Sermo works?"

Draco grinned. "I wouldn't bribe you with anything that didn't, Potter. That's not my style."

Harry nodded. "Well, go away, then."

"You're a git," Draco said as he left the room.

Harry sighed, lying down on his bed. Everything was crashing down in his mind, and he didn't know what to settle on first.

---

The very next day, Harry went up to the Astronomy Tower, pulled out the loose stone, and found a parcel just as the Angel of Reason had said.

Harry brought it back down to his dormitory and opened it behind the closed curtains of his bed. Inside the parcel, he found a golden pendant in the shape of a key, a sapphire blue set of robes, a spell on a rolled up piece of parchment in a language Harry couldn't understand, and another letter. Harry hid the cloak and spell underneath his invisibility cloak and pulled the pendant over his head, tucking it underneath his shirt along with the dragon pendant.

_Dear Mr. H. Potter,_

_From here on out, Draco Malfoy is your guide through the games. I will be here for questions if you need a trusting hand, but I will not be writing to you again until you have reached the middle level of the games. _

_Good luck to you, and do not fail._

_Trust in me,_

_The Angel of Reason_

---

For the next couple of days, Ron and Hermione had practically disappeared from Harry's life. This was partly because he was avoiding them, and partly because they were always whispering, lost in each other. The weekend drew nearer, and Harry was frantically getting his homework done so that his mind would be clear when the time came.

The Hogsmeade Saturday finally arrived. Harry had become extremely nervous, and had wrapped himself so fully in his school studies that when Hermione noticed how hard he was working, even she was surprised.

"You're taking a break this weekend, right?" Hermione asked him.

"Yeah." he nodded. "I just wanted to finish everything so I could be free to think about, erm, the DA meeting."

"Right." Hermione nodded. "And that's happening at eight o'clock tonight, remember."

"Did you manage to find a date, mate?" Ron asked.

"No, but I did plan on working on something here at school," Harry assured him.

"Not more school work?" Hermione asked, causing him to chuckle.

"No, it's nothing of the sort. It's sort of a game," he said. _At least I'm not lying. I'm just not telling._

"Well, good for you, mate!" Ron said happily.

"Yeah, good for me," Harry muttered.

By the time Harry saw Ron and Hermione off, it was nine o'clock in the morning. He hurried back to his room and found Draco there, waiting for him. Malfoy was already in a similar set of sapphire robes, and his eyes held a silvery-blue glow in reflection to them.

"'bout time you showed up," Draco growled. "Do you have blue robes?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Good. Did you read the list on what was needed, then?" Draco asked.

Harry thought for a moment before he replied, "Yeah. I got the pendants and spell and everything."

"Then hurry up, you twit! Get dressed!" Draco rushed him.

Harry quickly threw off his clothes and put on the cloak, grabbed the spell, and put his hand towards his neck to make sure the pendants were still there.

"Where are we going, Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"To the room you followed me to," Draco said as they went.

"Why?" Harry asked. "Does it have magical powers or something?"

"Sort of." Draco shrugged. "It's just one of the most enchanted rooms at Hogwarts, which makes it good for spell work. Also, it's sealed off. No one will be able to tell what sort of magic we use there."

"How hard will this spell be?"

"Well, just think of it this way," Draco muttered. "That spell you did on me last year will be nothing compared to how we'll feel after we're done with this one."

Harry went silent remembering last year's events, when he'd thought he had killed Draco with that spell.

"What if it doesn't work?" Harry asked.

"I personally don't want to think about that," Draco said dryly. "But mostly, we'd probably end up dead, and then you could talk to any old dead person you wished." Raising an eyebrow at Harry, he opened the door to the room.

"This room is the **Værelse Tryllestav. In Norwegian that roughly, and I mean roughly, translates to Room of Magic," Draco said as they entered. He started to light a few candles around the room. "Shut the door."**

**Harry did, and the room glowed fiery orange as Draco lit more candles.**

**"How do you know all this stuff, Malfoy?" Harry asked, slightly amazed. He had never considered Malfoy dumb before, but he had also never thought of him as bright.**

**"I study it, Potter," Draco sneered. "Because, unlike you, I actually put forth a bit of effort into learning more then just the skills I'm naturally gifted at."**

**"Whatever, Malfoy," Harry responded with a roll of his eyes. "What happens now?**

**Draco didn't answer. Instead, he started shuffling around the back of the room. When he came back, it was with a cauldron that was filled with a neon blue liquid.**

**"What's that?"**

**"A potion," Draco answered. "We have to drink it."**

**"Then what?"**

**Draco sighed and then pointed to the center of the room. "We sit there and recite the spell. And no matter what happens to you, you can't break out of the circle." **

**"What's the potion for?" Harry asked.**

**"It's to help us through the incantation. Without it, we could get really messed up."**

**Harry watched as Draco set the cauldron over a candle and set out two golden goblets.**

**"It has to get warm," Draco explained. "So in the meantime, I'm going to tell you briefly about the game."**

**"All right."**

**"Firstly, I'm not your friend or your ally. I am, however, your partner in this, which means I am not your enemy either. We have to be able to trust each other to get through this. Secondly, after each level we pass, we can come back here and take a break if you wish, but we have to finish the level in order to get back. Thirdly, before each level, we'll be put into a chamber. The chamber only opens after six questions have been asked and answered truthfully. We each get three questions, as you can imagine. And finally, don't invoke the Dragon in the game without my consent. The Dragon is going to try and help us, but it's also going to try and trick us, and we must not call upon it unless we're completely lost. Got it?"**

**"I guess."**

**"Oh, and one more thing. If one of us dies, Potter, go on without them. No matter what. You only have to start the game with a partner, but you don't have to finish it with one."**

**Harry sighed. _Cryptic as always. _**

**"Even if you think I could still be alive, leave me," Draco said impatiently. "You have to, okay?"**

**"All right, I promise if you croak, I'll go on without you," Harry muttered.**

**Draco gave him a glare. "Then let's drink." And with that, he started filling the goblets with the blue liquid. **

**Harry took a goblet and stared at it.**

**"Cheers," Draco said before tilting his head back, swallowing it in one gulp.**

**Harry braced himself and quickly drained the liquid. It was like fire in his mouth, but the taste was undetectable. **

**Draco took the goblet from Harry, peering into it to make sure it was empty. "Take a seat," he said as he put the cups down.**

**Harry sat in the middle of the floor and pulled out the spell. Draco joined him on the ground. **

**"Okay, Potter, begin the spell after I start to read mine. We don't have to be in sync for this to work. But just remember, no matter how uncomfortable you feel, don't stop the spell and don't move."**

**Harry didn't trust himself to answer, so he just nodded, and Draco began to recite the spell. Harry took a deep breath, and then started his own.**

**The first line into the spell, the room's candles began to flicker out. Everything was turning black. The two boys kept reading. **

**The room was shaking uncontrollably, filling with a gray smoke, choking up their voices, but they kept on.**

** Then Harry and Draco were not in the room at all any more, nor were they on the ground. They were suspended cross-legged in the air, in a black abyss. They kept reading. **

**A screech of an angry dragon was heard, and Harry felt the air beneath him become hot. Soon, it was scorching, and he could feel it burning his skin. **

**The heat continued rising up, now engulfing his body. He was surrounded in flames. Harry's hands started to shake, and his body was trembling. Was this how he was going to go?Just as this thought raced through his mind, the fire stopped. The pain remained, but the smoke cleared and all he could see was a blinding white.**

**Harry blinked. The spell was done. His body was numbing, and he heard Draco sigh next to him. But everything was still blurry.**

**"Don't move," Draco's voice called to him.**

**Everything was slowly coming into focus. They were in a room with pure white floors, walls and ceiling. He turned to speak to Draco, and saw that the boy was fiercely closing his eyes, preparing himself for something.**

"What are you-" Harry was interrupted by a sudden slash of pain across his chest. He cried out and heard Draco grunt in pain.

Another slash across the other side of his chest, and Harry looked down, surprised to see his robes were still whole, but blood was seeping down them. He pulled his robes out to see a giant bleeding X across his chest.

"M-Malfoy?" Harry asked, trembling.

Draco grunted in response.

"We're not dead, are we?" Harry asked.

"No, Potter, we're not dead." Draco now had his eyes open, and he was standing up. Harry stood as well, looking around.

There was another loud screech of a dragon, and Harry held his breath, turning and expecting to see something other then white, but nothing was there.

"Welcome strangers, to the Game of the Dragon," a deep dark voice echoed across the room. "You begin here, in the Chamber of Truth. Before you may continue, you must ask the questions you seek, and uncover the answers from each other. The game begins now."

Draco turned to Harry. "Let's just dive in, Potter."

Harry nodded.

"Do you trust me?" Draco asked.

Harry stared at him for a moment. "No."

He thought about what he should ask Malfoy, and finally decided on the question he was most anxious to know. "Can I trust you?"

Draco stared at him blankly. "No."

Harry sighed, knowing that was probably the case.

"Do you hate me?" Draco asked.

Harry tilted his head in surprise. He was about to ask Draco why he asked, but then thought better of it. He didn't know if every question asked counted to the question total.

"Surprisingly, no," Harry said, surprising even himself with his answer. He paused. "Do you_ want_ to be here, or are you only here because you're forced to be?"

"I don't know," Draco said quickly. "Aren't you going to ask me if I hate you?"

"No."

Draco suddenly looked disgruntled. "Hey! That wasn't a real question."

Harry grinned. "What are you getting out of all of this?"

Draco sighed, aggravated by his own stupidity. Then he looked Harry in the eye. "My freedom."


	9. Level One

Draco looked down to see his chest bleeding, but that didn't matter. What mattered right now was that he was in the game. He glanced over to see Harry looking down his robes at his own bleeding chest.

"M-Malfoy?" Harry asked, and Draco could hear him trembling from the pain.

In response, he grunted, looking around the room for a sign of where to start.

"We're not dead, are we?"

Draco grinned inwardly. _Trust Potter to believe I'd trick him into his own death._

"No, Potter, we're not dead," he assured him, standing up.

_Now how do we get this game going?_

There was another loud screech of a dragon, and Draco smiled. _There we go._

"Welcome, strangers, to the Game of the Dragon," a deep, dark voice echoed across the room. "You begin here, in the Chamber of Truth. Before you may continue, you must ask the questions you seek, and uncover the answers from each other. The game begins now."

Draco turned to Harry and said, "Let's just dive in, Potter." He knew what question he wanted to ask. "Do you trust me?"

Harry's green eyes shone, but Draco couldn't read what he was thinking.

_Odd, _Draco thought_, usually, Potter's like an open book. _

"No," was his firm answer.

Draco expected that.

There was a long pause as Harry thought, and Draco waited impatiently.

"Can I trust you?"

_I wish you could,_ Draco thought._ It would make this game much easier. _

"No."

Draco heard Harry sigh. _I wonder if he knew that was the obvious answer. Well, I wonder..._

"Do you hate me?" Draco asked aloud, and watched closely as Harry titled his head, caught off guard.

"Surprisingly, no," Harry said.

_Really? That's odd,_ he thought, now awaiting his next question.

"Do you_ want_ to be here, or are you only here because you're forced to be?"

_He didn't ask me if I hated him! What, does he think I don't? _

"I don't know," Draco said quickly. "Aren't you going to ask me if I hate you?"

"No."

Draco suddenly realized he had just blown a question. _Shit!_

"Hey! That wasn't a real question," he said, trying to take it back.

Harry's face split into a grin and Draco was pissed- especially because the grin was mocking him.

"What are you getting out of all of this?"

Draco sighed, aggravated by his own stupidity, and then looked Harry in the eye. "My freedom."

Draco watched Harry's face twist with confusion.

_Don't even bother to ask what that means, Potter. Even I don't really know. _

There was a loud bang as the white walls on one side of the room were pulling apart to reveal another room.

"Do we go in?" Harry asked uncertainly.

_He seems uncertain a lot. Especially around me. _

"Yeah," Draco answered, and they both headed through the door. He heard the door thud closed behind them.

They had entered a room that seemed to be made of solid steel. Everything was a ghastly silver color, and there were six metal boxes in the center of the room, each with a number on the front.

"Looks like we pick a box," Draco said, walking towards them.

"Wait, Malfoy!" Harry called quickly.

"What?" Draco asked, turning to see Harry pulling down a note that was suspended in air.

"It's a riddle," Harry muttered.

"Well, go on then, read it!" Draco urged. Harry wasn't picking up on the whole 'it's a game and it's timed' thing too well.

Harry didn't answer, and Draco quickly realized that he was reading it silently.

"You stupid git!" Draco sighed. "Read it aloud." _Moron,_ he thought, groaning.

"Oh, right," Harry said. Clearing is throat, he began:

"Here's a few clues you cannot miss

Boxes of six you must pick like this

One before three

That's simple as can be

But the middle is first

If that's a bit worse

Just remember this in your haste

Even evens can have middles in this case

T's are second in their might

But the second T hates to have a right

Just to have a mix

Five can't stand six

One puts five first

A six behind to thirst

Now a surprise

There's a potential demise

Inside six

And it's accompanies

There is a test

Good luck with the rest."

Draco stood puzzled for a moment, and then went to examine the boxes.

"What sort of game is this?" Harry asked.

Draco wasn't paying attention; he was fitting the clues inside his head. "T means two and three."

"Do we have to pick them up in a certain order?" Harry asked.

"I believe so." Draco nodded. "Now help me figure this out."

"Right, T, two and three," Harry repeated him.

Draco shook his head and continued, ignoring Harry. "Okay, that means two is second and three is last, because it can't have anything to the right of it if it's there, right?"

"Right." Harry nodded. "Oh, and middles can be even, which means that if three's not the middle, that leaves four to be it, so that's first!"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry. _That was actually a good assumption._

"Right, so, 4, 2, and last is 3," Draco said.

"Now we only have three left!" Harry said, smiling.

"Don't be so smug," Draco hissed. "This is just the start."

Harry's smile vanished.

"Now, 5 can't be next to six, and one's in the middle. Okay, I got it. 4, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3. How's that sound?" Draco asked as he went over the riddle again.

"Seems right." Harry nodded.

"Seems?" Draco asked. _Come on, Potter, be sure. We have to get this right._

"Pretty positive," Harry answered. "What's the last bit mean?"

"I believe it means 1, 6 and 3 are going to give us some trouble."

"Typical," he heard Harry mutter under his breath.

_Well, _thought Draco, _here goes nothing. _

He went to the boxes and looked for a way to open box 4. He found a handle on the top and pulled it up. There was nothing in the box.

Harry went to box 2 and opened it. Still nothing inside.

Draco picked up 5, and again there was nothing, but he wasn't expecting anything till the next one.

"Get 1 Potter, and don't be too surprised if something attacks you."

Draco watched Harry as he awkwardly picked up box number 1. The two peered inside, and Draco was shocked to see nothing.

"That's odd," Draco said.

"Are we doing this right?" Harry asked cautiously.

"I believe-"

"So far, so good, gamers," the deep voice interrupted him. "Here's your first test. Can you handle trouble in your partnership? At the beginning of the second level, the one who did not open this box will create a scenario where they believe their partner will not be able to handle watching the scene. This scenario will follow you through two levels. Can you last?"

The voice stopped.

"Scenario?" Harry asked. "You have to create a scenario?"

Draco detected a quiver of fear in Harry's voice.

"The game said to, Potter," Draco said with a grin. "This ought to be fun."

"What exactly are you planning?" Harry asked, eyeing him.

Draco just chose to smile coyly.

Harry shook his head and turned back to the game. "You open the next box."

Draco pulled up box number 6, and both boys fell silent.

"You have till your forth level to answer me this: Who is Hector Collins the Fifth?" the voice echoed.

Draco had never heard of the person before, and he looked to Harry. "Have you heard of him?"

"No, you?" Harry asked.

"No."

"Well, let's deal with this later," Harry said. "Let's do this last box."

Draco agreed, and Harry slowly lifted up the lid to box 3. Inside lay two sharp looking swords.

"What are these for?" Harry asked, dumbfounded.

"They're nice," Draco said, pulling one out and examining it.

"Okay, but what are they for?" Harry repeated as he picked up the other sword.

Draco was about to answer when both boys stumbled over, dropping their swords as the room began to spin. It spun faster and faster until it came to a sudden stop. The boxes were gone, and Harry and Draco were thrown against the wall.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Draco said, picking himself up. He suddenly felt a biting sensation on his foot and looked down to see a hairy, red creature no taller then his knee gnawing there.

He wriggled his foot furiously, but it held on tight. "Get off!" he yelled at it.

Harry immediately told Draco to hold still and kicked it off. The creature sputtered indignantly as it went flying.

"Grab your sword," Draco said, picking up his own from the ground. The creature faced off with him as Harry rushed to grab his sword.

"What's it doing, Malfoy?" Harry asked as he joined Draco.

Draco was about to ask the same question. The creature was doubling- tripling- in size.

"It's growing!" Draco exclaimed, stating the obvious as the creature bared its sharp teeth, growling.

He glanced over at Harry and saw that the boy was looking a bit more confident then he himself was feeling.

The creature lunged at Harry and both boys swung at it, but Draco didn't hit anything. Instead, the creature pushed him out of the way, straight into the wall. He heard Harry's cry of pain.

Draco quickly thought about what he could do and shouted, "Oi!"

The creature ignored him and kept mauling at Harry. Draco groaned and rushed at the creature, his sword point first. The creature was not quick enough this time, and Draco's sword went straight into the creatures' side. It howled, and Harry quickly rolled out from underneath it.

"Get your sword!" Draco reminded him.

The creature was too busy limping in pain to stop Harry from getting his sword back, but a misstep from it came to its advantage as it stepped on Harry's outreaching hand.

Draco heard a _crack_ from Harry's hand and he grimaced. That definitely didn't sound good.

Harry quickly kicked the sword towards Draco, and not thinking twice, Draco snatched it up and thrust it into the creatures head. It stumbled and screeched before falling down, lifeless.

"Potter, you okay?" Draco asked, rushing over to him.

"I think my hand's broken."

"It sounded like it! Let me see."

Harry held out his hand, and Draco tried not to feel sick as he saw the horrid gash.

"It's broken," he announced, nodding.

"Level One completed, gamers. Return home now by walking through the gold doors, or return back to the white room."

"Let's get your arm fixed. I can't work with you like that; you won't be able to concentrate."

Harry nodded and Draco took the lead, the injured one hobbling behind him. He knew it was rude to let Harry walk on his own- especially when he looked that bad off- but he was choosing not to care. So instead, he called out some supportive words.

"You'll be fine, Potter. I know a few spells I can use on you."

Harry didn't answer as they stepped through the golden doors. They were blinded by a flash of white and arrived safely back in the Room of Magic.

---

When Harry realized they were safely back in the room, he collapsed in a heap to the floor. Draco was staring down at him curiously.

"If you're not going to heal me, Malfoy, then leave me alone! This is all your fault!" Harry groaned.

Draco didn't say anything as he reached down and muttered a few incantations with his wand. Harry felt his arm tingling and reshaping, the pain was lessening, and he was feeling less light headed.

"Better?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Harry said, not bothering to thank him. He was only doing it for selfish reasons, he assumed. "That was weird, Malfoy."

"Yeah," Draco said, nodding his agreement. "I didn't expect anything like that."

"Who told you to participate in the games?" Harry asked suddenly. He had been thinking about it for a while now, and he wanted to know the answer.

Draco ran a hand through his hair, and it immediately fell back into place. "If I told you, you'd think I'm lying."

"Well, probably, but I still want to know."

"Alright, Potter," Draco grumbled. "They go by the name of The Angel of Reason."

"What?" Harry asked, his mouth falling open.

"Oh, not you too?" Draco groaned. "The Angel has contacted you as well?" he asked, looking oddly upset.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Is that why you were by the Astrology Tower before?"

"No. I don't send the Angel messages," he responded with a shrug.

"Oh… That's really strange. Why would they contact both of us?" Harry wondered.

His mind was racing. If Draco had received the same letter, then the Angel of Reason could be working for any side. Or maybe there was more to what Draco wasn't saying.

Draco shrugged.

Harry sighed, knowing Draco was done answering his questions. "What time is it?"

Draco glanced at his wrist. "Six."

"Wow, it's so late," Harry muttered. "It didn't seem like we were there for that long."

"And your point?" Draco growled.

Harry sighed. Draco was becoming insufferable again. However, he knew something that would lighten him up.

"I have a few hours before I have to meet Ron and Hermione. Do you want to go look up that Hector Collins the Fifth guy?"

"Smart idea, Potter. I'm impressed."

Harry stared, dumbfounded for a minute as Draco left out the door before he came to his senses and scrambled after him.

"So how do we get back into the game?" Harry asked. "It's not like the first time over again?"

"I hope not," was Draco's answer. "And we don't have to say the spell again; we just have to concentrate on the games and we sit like we were."

When Draco and Harry entered the library, they glanced around for Madam Pince. She was no where to be seen.

"Where did that woman go?" Draco hissed.

"No clue."

Draco shrugged, and Harry watched him go to the restricted section.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?"

"Getting a book while no one's looking. What are you doing, Potter? Standing there like a git as usual?"

Harry muttered something angry underneath his breath before setting to work finding books.

"What exactly are we looking for?" he asked.

"You know as much as I do, Potter," Draco snapped. "Here, let's try these."

Harry saw Draco set down a book from the restricted section and another from the history section.

"I'll handle the restricted book if you're too much of a wimp, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes, but took the other book anyway.

The two began to search in silence. The first two books were duds, and so they got more, their stack piling up. They were in the middle of their seventh set of books when suddenly, Draco burst out laughing.

Harry stared, stunned. Draco Malfoy was laughing. Sincerely laughing.

"What?" Harry asked.

"This is so lame!" Draco laughed again, and he began to read to Harry what was so amusing. "A unicorn, which is so simply delicate and beautiful, will cause you to lose all self control at the sight of it." The boy went into another fit of laughter.

Harry grinned, bemused at Draco's laughter and not at the actual passage. "What the hell, Malfoy?"

Draco continued to laugh. In spite of himself, Harry began to laugh as well, and finally both boys calmed down.

"I don't get it!" Harry said, chocking down a laugh. "What's so funny?"

Draco chortled again. "This stuff is just so clearly bullshit! This person clearly had no idea what they were writing about! Read this."

Harry took the book and read another preposterous statement about an Imp. Chuckling, Harry said, "You're right, that's so stupid. Who would publish this?"

"The same people who published those damn Lockhart books!" Draco said, amused.

"I wonder," Harry said, flipping to the back of the cover.

"Oh my God!" Draco laughed. "It is!"

The two boys began laughing again, until a look of horror slid across Draco's face. He stopped laughing, and Harry frowned.

"What's wrong, Malfoy?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"This, Potter! I can't be laughing with you! You're Potter, the famous Git-Who-Lived," Draco said slowly. "I have to leave."

Harry paused in confusion, but Draco was gone in a flash.

"Talk about mood swings," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes.

What was Draco freaking out about, if they were actually having a decent conversation? Wasn't it better if they got along instead of fighting constantly? And was he supposed to think it was bad that he actually enjoyed laughing over the book with Malfoy?

Harry sighed. Malfoy was a complicated person.

He glanced over at the library clock and saw that it was twenty after nine.

_Oh no! _Harry thought immediately. _I missed my own DA meeting! Hermione's going to kill me!_

He quickly rushed out of the room, leaving the books scattered all over the table.

He ran through the halls and into the Room of Requirement. Nobody was there, but there was a note on the door.

_Harry, _

_We all waited around for you, Hermione or Ron to show up until half past eight. I assume you have a good reason for not making it, so just let us know if there's anything wrong that we can help you with._

_Sincerely, _

_Your fellow DA members_

Harry frowned. Hermione and Ron hadn't shown up either? Where were they?

Harry headed up to his dormitory and found Ron waiting up for him with a grim look on his face.

"Ron, what's wrong?"

Ron held up a Daily Prophet and tossed it to him.

Harry caught it and settled on the couch, reading the top story title. _Two Notorious Death Eaters Escape from Azkaban. Have you seen them? _

Harry held back a groan of annoyance. "This can't be happening!"

"It's Lucius, Harry. Him and one of his lackeys escaped a few months ago, but nobody has found out till today! The Ministry was probably trying to keep it under wraps."

"Typical," Harry muttered. "Ron, is this why you and Hermione missed the DA meeting?"

"Er, not exactly, Harry," Ron stammered, his ears taking on a shade of pink. "We just got caught up talking."

"Oh, talking? Is that what they're calling it?" Harry asked rather rudely.

_What am I doing? _Harry scolded himself. _They were having fun. It was your responsibility to run the meeting, not theirs. I should have paid more attention to the time._

Ron just stared, taken aback.

"Sorry, Ron. It's just, I screwed some stuff up tonight. I shouldn't be taking this out on you." He sighed. "I'm going for a walk." With that, he left the room without another word, and Ron just stared dumbly after him.

Harry knew Ron wanted to talk about his date with Hermione, but he just didn't want to listen at the moment.

He made his way down to the Quidditch pitch to clear his head and gave a frightened start when he ran straight into Draco going the same way.


	10. Suspicions

After Draco stormed out of the library, he left the castle.

"I can't be joking around with Potter!" he muttered to himself. "He's a git, a self-absorbed big headed hero figure."

The former Slytherin sighed; it would have been easier to deal with Potter if he didn't have a plan to follow through with.

"And thanks to dad," he said aloud, "he's not going to trust me as much." He groaned again.

His father had been back from Azkaban for little over two weeks, and today was the day that Lucius' face would be in the paper. Everyone was going to know he had escaped.

He was expecting a letter any day now from the man, and he was dreading the contents. What would his father ask him to do?

Draco kicked a stone and it skipped across the grass. He didn't want his father to be back. Life was so much easier without him. He didn't have to worry about watching his step or behaving the way he was "supposed" to.

What would Harry do when he found out? Everyone always felt the same thing; that he was his father – but after all, that wasn't true. Not in Draco's head, anyway. Would Harry quit on him? Would he hate him again?

_What am I going to do? He can't quit on me, it's the only way to survive in this…_

He walked to the Quidditch pitch, which was usually a place that gave him peace. He heard footsteps coming nearer, and found Harry heading in the same direction.

---

"Bugger, Malfoy! What are you doing out here?" Harry asked, startled. He hadn't been expecting anyone else to be out; rarely did he find someone at the pitch at night.

"Existing Potter. Yourself?" came Malfoy's drawled response.

Harry shrugged. "I guess the same."

The blonde raised an eye, as if in a gesture of mocking him. "You guess?"

"Go away!" Harry said shortly. He was too upset about Lucius to be able to talk to Draco.

"Right...You want to talk about it?"

Harry glanced at Draco. He looked sincere again, like he had been in the library.

_Wasn't he just fleeing from me earlier because he was being sincere? _

"What are you on about?" Harry asked, watching him closely as if to gauge his reaction.

"Never mind, forget I asked," Draco said, starting to walk away.

"Wait! Sorry, it's just, you actually seemed sincere."

Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, because Draco instantly flared up, looking pissed.

"Well, imagine that, Potter! Draco Malfoy can actually be human."

"You've never acted like it before," Harry stated, folding his arms across his chest. He watched Draco keep perfectly still as if unaffected by this thought.

"We've never been told to trust each other before either, but here we are."

"Point," Harry said, lightening up a bit, and wondering what had changed this boy's mind from earlier.

"So go ahead, poor your heart out," Draco said with a bit of a sneer, causing Harry to roll his eyes.

"Oddly enough, Malfoy, putting it like that doesn't really make me want to open up."

There was an odd sort of silence, and Harry saw that the boy was fighting some sort of internal battle. Then, Draco said something so softly that he almost didn't catch it.

"Sorry."

_Did I just hear that right? _

"You're sorry? Wait, did you just say-"

"Oh forget it!" Draco immediately cut in. "Jeez, you prat…" he trailed off, mumbling under his breath. "I hate you."

"Yeah, well, lucky me," Harry responded dully, making Draco's hatred falter.

"So you really don't hate me?"

"What, are we playing six questions?"

"Guess not."

Harry sighed. "No, I really don't hate you."

"Good."

"Good."

"Yeah." Draco shrugged, not being able to find anything else to say. He folded his hands behind his head, taking on the cocky attitude that he was renowned for. "No one can really hate me."

"You're strange," Harry remarked at the boys behavior.

"Not strange," Draco denied. "I'm a Malfoy, no one hates us… or at least, not to our faces."

"Ron does," Harry stated.

"Weasel doesn't count," Draco said, rolling his eyes.

"Why's that exactly?"

Draco looked over Harry's shoulder for a moment before answering, "You don't want to hear why."

"You're an ass, Malfoy," Harry said, aggravated. Just when Draco was starting to act human, he became a jerk again.

"I didn't say anything!" Draco insisted innocently.

"It was clear what you meant."

"Yeah, well, my hate is mutual for him. You should've figured that out by now."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry sighed. "And you really hate Hermione as well?"

"Granger is a-" Draco stopped himself. "Well, Muggle aside, she's still a nosey, brainy little twit."

"Hmm," Harry said, thinking.

"Why do you want to know what I think of Granger?"

"I don't know." Harry shrugged. He really didn't.

"Okay... What do you think of Crabbe and Goyle?" Draco asked, as if trying to even the playing field.

"They're, er... a bit stupid, and all muscle and no brains," Harry said truthfully.

Draco thought for a moment. "You've got a point," he said, matter-of-factly.

"What about Pansy?" Harry asked suddenly. He was always curious to find out what Draco and she were to each other.

"What about her?"

"What's with you and her?"

Draco grinned. "She thinks I'm hott, but who can blame her?" he answered haughtily. Then, becoming serious, he continued, "Actually, she's pretty obsessive. It's rather disgusting."

"Really?" Harry asked, intrigued. "Who do you like, Malfoy?"

"None of your business," Draco answered tersely, appalled at the question.

"If you don't answer now, I'll just ask during the game," Harry said smugly.

"You're a twit!"

"Well...?"

"Um... I guess no one, really. All the girls in Slytherin are a bunch of snobbish bitches."

"Anyone out of Slytherin?"

"Nope," Draco said simply. "Now, how about you, Potter? Who's the famous Boy Wonder got the hots for?"

"I can't be with them, so it doesn't matter," Harry said, thinking of Ginny.

"The Weaselette?"

"Mmhmm."

"She's definitely got a thing for you," Draco commented.

"Yeah, I guess she did." Harry sighed. "But I broke it off."

Draco looked at him in surprise. "Why would you do a stupid thing like that, Potter? I mean, you got this girl drooling over you... What the hell would cause you to break it off?"

"I don't want her to get hurt."

"Ah, so it's a noble thing," Draco sneered. "Typical of the tragic hero to break off the only happiness he's ever known."

"How would you know it's the only happiness?"

"Look at your life, Potter!" he said, giving him a 'get real' look. "It's awful. And I should know; my life is hell."

"You bring that on yourself, Malfoy," Harry said, annoyed.

"So your life isn't hell?" Draco asked, ignoring him.

"It has its moment's."

"Well sure, you get the friends, the girl if you wanted her, the fame, the fortune, the attention," he listed, sounding almost envious. "But you also have the responsibility."

Harry was intrigued; it was almost as if he understood his dilemma.

"The spot light's on you, and every wrong move you make the whole world knows. That's a big burden."

Harry nodded his agreement. "What's your point?"

"No point," Draco shrugged, then looked surprised. "Wow, I really don't have a point."

"Whatever, Malfoy," he dismissed. "Go away, alright? I want to be alone."

"Well, I got here first!" Draco argued. "_You _go."

Harry snapped. Was it so much for him to ask to get a moment's peace?

"Fine! Go plot evil plans with your fucking father! I'm going to figure out whatever you're planning, Malfoy!"

Draco stared at him, quite bemused. He clearly had never seen Harry freak out much.

"Stop grinning at me!"

The former Slytherin didn't know what to say; Harry was confusing him with his anger.

"Just leave me alone! I'm fed up with you, and with people always telling me what to do but expecting me to have the answers! I don't have the answers, all right!? I don't know how to help you out in this stupid game! And if you're not going to cooperate with me when we're studying, then you can look up the goddamn person by yourself! I don't need your crap, and I'm certainly not going to let you twirl me around like your little puppet!"

Harry started to storm off, but Draco's voice stopped him.

"Shit, Potter! Get a hold of yourself! You can't fall to pieces!" he said, looking alarmed as Harry sat on the ground.

"I can do whatever I please!" Harry spat.

"Get up!" Draco ordered. "Come on, Potter! You're the Boy-Who-Lived; you can bloody well handle this! Get up!"

"What do you care what I do? Why do you need _me_ of all people for this game?"

"Because you want the same thing I want!"

"I can't think of a single thing that we'd both want."

"That's because you're not using your head!" Draco said. "Now get up! You look like you're going to cry, and I won't be here for that."

"Then go!" Harry said, not moving.

"Just meet me tomorrow, Potter," Draco said, his voice sounding further away. Harry realized he was leaving. "We have to start the next level."

He didn't answer, and he didn't move till he heard Draco's footsteps fade away.

Harry hadn't meant to have a melt down in front of him, but he didn't understand why it freaked the boy out so much.

---

Draco quickly left the Quidditch pitch with one question on his mind: _What in the world got into Potter? _

He wasn't used to people falling apart; the majority of the Slytherins never showed much emotion, and the ones who did were shunned.

What was even weirder was that he was actually worried about Harry. Something was clearly getting to him, and he couldn't help but think it had something to do with the upcoming war.

Pushing his thoughts aside as he entered the Great Hall, he heard a girls whining voice.

"Draco, darling! There you are!" Pansy gushed and rushed towards him.

"Go away–ouf!" Draco grunted, for Pansy had run into his arms and was attempting to crush him in a hug. "What the hell?" he asked, peeling her off of him.

"I've missed you! You've been avoiding me all week!" the smiling, stubborn girl whined.

Draco stared at her for a moment. The Slytherins may be good actors, but he knew Pansy well enough to know that smile wasn't real.

"So?" he shrugged.

"You've really been avoiding me?" Pansy asked, wrapping herself around his arm.

"Yes," Draco answered simply. "Go figure, Pansy."

Pansy pouted, her lip jutting out and her eyes getting wide in what he assumed were fake tears.

"Why?"

"Because you're annoying."

He really wasn't up for pretending he actually liked her, the way his father would have wanted him to act. to be all googly-eyed about her. Plus, it was obvious that she was up to something.

"You're mean!" she sulked, letting him go. "Don't you want to hear about our plans for that brainy Mudblood?"

She was watching him closely, and Draco realized she was trying to see what his reaction would be.

"Nope. Do what you'd like," he responded.

"What's gotten into you, Draco Malfoy?" Pansy asked, placing her hands on her hips. "And what were you doing with Potter?"

"What?" Draco questioned, surprised. "You were spying on me?"

"Of course I was!" she hissed. "You're up to something, and I want to know what it is." Her voice dropped down to a near whisper before saying, "And I know you didn't kill Dumbledore."

"Is that what you think?" he asked, keeping his face as emotionless as possible. "Well, you can believe whatever you want. But the Dark Lord believes me, so it doesn't matter what you think." With that, he pushed passed her.

"I'm watching you, Draco," Pansy called after him.

"How could you help it?" he responded, not turning around.

Arriving in his dormitory, Draco found Keifer and Dean with their bed curtains already closed. Harry's bed was empty.

---

Pansy balled her hands into fists as Draco took off.

"Blaise, Millicent?" Pansy called. "Did you catch all that?"

"Most of it," Millicent said, coming from behind a wall.

"Everything but what you whispered to him," Blaise added suspiciously.

"It wasn't anything important," Pansy said dismissively. "But didn't he seem to be acting funny?"

"No more then usual," Millicent replied with a shrug.

Pansy groaned.

"Well, are we going to do that spell on Granger tonight or what?" Blaise asked.

"Yes, we are. Come on, then," Pansy said.

The three headed up to their common room, and to their disappointment, found Hermione and Parvati gossiping on the couch.

_Oh no! _Hermione thought when she looked up and saw them.

"Girls?" Pansy asked in a falsely sweet voice. "We need the common room for a while, could you leave?"

"No," Hermione answered shortly.

Pansy's face faltered for a moment before recomposing herself.

"Get out or I'll curse you both," she threatened, starting to reach for her wand but finding Hermione already had hers out and pointing straight at her.

"Parvati and I were speaking, and I don't want you three doing rubbish spells on me in my own common room!" Hermione said, trying to keep confident.

"You're talking big, Granger," Blaise growled. "We can fix that."

"Why don't you leave us be?" Parvati asked, taking out her own wand.

"Patil, Granger, you're really making this harder than it has to be," Pansy muttered.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Hermione hissed at her. "I'm not stupid, you know! Pulling my hair out! What are you making Polyjuice for?"

"Polyjuice?" Millicent asked, making it rather obvious that it wasn't what they were making.

Shooting her a warning look, Pansy spoke to Hermione. "You'll just have to find out for yourself."

Hermione studied the three of them before saying, "Come on Parvati, let's go up to bed."

"You sure, Hermione? We don't have to put up with these jerks," Parvati said, keeping her wand out.

Hermione sighed, glaring at them. "I know, but I have a big day tomorrow. Come on."

As they left to their dormitory, both Hermione and Parvati shot the three the dirtiest looks they could muster.

"Polyjuice?" Pansy said aloud. "Why would we be making Polyjuice?"

"It doesn't matter," Blaise grumbled. "We're not, so let's just do the spell."

"She's onto us, you know!" Millicent warned. "She's a brainy one, everyone knows it. She's going to figure this out quickly."

"Which is why we'll get this done quickly," Pansy said with a roll of her eyes.

---

While Parvati was getting ready to sleep, Hermione was pulling out a few books.

"No, that's not it, no, no," Hermione muttered under her breath, reading the titles. "Parvati, have you seen that big green book I had in here this morning?"

"Yeah, I think you left it by my bed," Parvati called from the bathroom.

Hermione checked and sure enough, it was set beside her bed. She picked it up and began to run through it, and when she finally landed on the page that she was looking for, she smiled.

"Parvati, are you up to doing a spell with me?"

Parvati opened the bathroom door and looked at Hermione. "What sort of spell?"

---

Sunday morning, Harry awoke to Draco standing over him, his impassive face shadowing the light from the window.

"Potter! It's already ten! Are you going to be sleeping all day?"

Harry groaned and reached for his glasses. "What's going on?"

"Get dressed! We have a game to play!"

"Ugh," Harry said sleepily as he picked himself out of bed.

"I'll meet you there," Draco muttered. "And I'd eat something if I were you."

"Is breakfast over?"

"I don't know, I ate at seven," Draco sneered, and left the room.

Harry yawned again, stretched, and began looking for his blue robes. When he was ready, he went to the Great Hall and found breakfast still being served. He grabbed himself a bagel and rushed out.

Entering the room just as he was finishing it, he saw that Draco had already lit all the candles.

"Is everything ready?" Harry asked.

"As long as you are," Draco drawled. "You ate?"

"Yes," Harry nodded.

"Good, I wouldn't like to imagine what the journey would be like on an empty stomach."

Harry grimaced. He was right.

"Well, you sure you're awake?" Draco asked. "I have to make sure you're not going to fall asleep on me."

"I'm not going to fall asleep on you! Now let's do this."

Draco nodded, and the two boy's sat.

"What do we do?" Harry asked.

"Just concentrate on that white room. Everything you can remember about it," Draco instructed. "The magic'll do the rest."

Harry nodded, and they closed their eyes and began to concentrate.

_White, blinding white, that odd feeling of magic dust, more white,_ Harry thought, focusing.

After a few minutes, Harry thought nothing was happening, so he opened his eyes and found that they were passing through a black abyss and into a white one.

"That was oddly painless," Draco said, opening his eyes.

They were in the white room, but neither of them moved. Harry listened for the Dragon, and when he heard it, it was ear splitting. He cringed and felt his chest begin to burn. The pain was worse than when they had first gotten cut. Harry again pulled open his robes, and saw that the cut that had slowly been healing was open again, and gushing blood.

"Fuck that hurts," Draco got out through gritted teeth.

Harry blinked a few times, trying to clear the blurriness from his vision the pain had caused. "Is that it?" he asked.

Draco nodded, standing up.

"I'm asking first this time," Harry said immediately.

"All right," Draco sneered. "Go ahead."

"Did you only want me in this game to kill me?" Harry asked. It was a question that had been bothering him since the first game.

Draco frowned. "No. I definitely don't want you to get killed in here. I don't want your death on my conscious, Potter."

Harry was relieved, but tried not to show it.

"Why did you really join this game?" Draco asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "I...I wanted to talk to my family... and I wanted to believe the Angel of Reason was right in saying this would help in the war," he sighed.

He knew it was a really stupid reason to just jump into a life or death situation- especially with a Malfoy- but he was so desperate to talk to his mom and dad, or maybe even see Sirius again, that he didn't really care.

Thinking of a question that would sort out many things, Harry asked, "Where do you stand in the war? I mean, which side are you on?

"I'm not on any side. I'm just doing what I have to do," Draco answered.

Harry was taken aback; that certainly wasn't the answer he was expecting.

"Would you do what you had to…Would you die to save the world?" Draco asked slowly.

Harry couldn't tell if the boy was trying to mock him, but he had no choice but to answer.

"Yes, I would die if I had to," he nodded. "Would you?"

"Of course I would," Draco said quickly in a seething voice. His face suddenly dropped, appalled at himself. That was clearly not what he meant to say, but the room had made him say otherwise.

Trying to shrug it off, he asked, "Will you actually leave me to die like I told you to?"

"No," Harry admitted with a sigh. He knew he couldn't just leave anyone to die. Not even Malfoy.

They stood for a moment, waiting for something, when a question flashed in Harry's head.

"Does your father know you're here?"

"No," was Draco's simple answer before the two of them were thrown out a door by a strong, invisible force.

"Heed me now. Do not use up more than your turns. Ask only what is expected of you and no more in the Chamber of Truth. You have been warned."

"Nice going, Potter!" Draco growled.

"Sorry," Harry said. He truly hadn't meant to ask more than three questions.

Both boy's started to slowly examine their surroundings. They were in a room with mirrors covering the walls.

"What are these for?" Harry wondered aloud.

No sooner had he asked than the deep voice rang out again. "Welcome to level two. Before you may begin, one of you was asked to cause trouble. Here is where you may create the scenario. Speak into the mirrors, and they will reflect back to you."

Harry gulped. He had no idea what trouble Draco was going to stir up, but from the look in the boy's eyes, it wasn't going to be good.


	11. Backfired Spells

Draco turned to Harry, grinning.

"So, what would make the great Boy-Who-Lived jealous?"

_Oh boy, _Harry thought wildly. _This _really_ isn't going to be good._

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Harry warned him, reminded of the times when his imagination had caused him more trouble then it was worth.

"Why's that?" Draco asked, not taking his word for it.

"Because, you might be underestimating the power of my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you can certainly find out for yourself. I was just warning you," Harry said with a shrug.

Draco nodded before they both turned to the mirror. Harry held his breath as Draco spoke, dreading what was going to happen next.

"The scenario I wish to create is the thing that will make Harry Potter jealous the most," Draco said awkwardly.

The two boys watched the reflection, waiting for something to happen. The lights in the room flickered; first shutting off before quickly turning back on.

Harry's jaw dropped as he peered into the reflection. There, he saw the unmistakable scene of Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley, entangled in a rather passionate kiss. Harry turned from the reflection to look at the real Draco, and was surprised to see that Ginny was actually there.

Draco quickly pushed her off of him, sounding revolted as he sputtered, "What the bloody hell, Potter!? That's disgusting!"

Harry watched, slightly disgusted and slightly amused as Draco fought with Ginny who was trying to grope him.

"Get off, Weasel!" Draco demanded as he fought with her.

"But Draco, I love you!"

The blonde looked like he was going to be sick as he tried to shake her off. "Make her stop! What kind of bloody joke is this, Potter?"

"I didn't do it," he said in a monotone voice. "You brought it upon yourself."

"She keeps touching me!" Draco said, catching and holding both her hands together.

"Let's go somewhere else," Ginny said to Draco, her eyes batting suggestively.

Rolling his eyes, Harry addressed the redhead. "Ginny, let Draco go."

In a flash, he was faced with a Ginny who's face was as red as her hair. In anger, she yelled, "No! You have no right to be like this! If I want to date other people, then that's _my_ business. After all, _you_ broke up with _me_."

She was clearly under a spell from the room, but it still hurt Harry.

"Weasel, stop!" Draco ordered as she tried to kiss him.

"But Draco!" she whined.

"She's as bad as Pansy!" he groaned.

"Malfoy, look," Harry said as he noticed panels from the floor beginning to float. He looked up to see them form rows of eight across and eight down, and at the far end of the room, there was a door.

Draco was trying to see, but Ginny was distracting him by nibbling his ear.

A staircase formed in front of Harry from the silver panels, which led up to the rows in the air.

"We have to get to that door," Harry said. He glanced over at Draco and Ginny and saw her brushing his hair. The former Gryffindor seemed to be in awe, and the latter was looking very upset and disgusted. Harry rolled his eyes.

"You should do your hair like this," she said as she brushed his hair over. When it fell back into place, she frowned.

"Hey, why don't we pay attention to Potter?" Draco suggested loudly to her.

"I don't want to," Ginny said petulantly.

"Potter! I can't concentrate with her."

"Then just stay here," Harry said. "I'll see what these panels are about."

Draco agreed with a nod and smacked Ginny's hand away from his face.

Harry left the two struggling and stepped onto the first stair panel, which shifted from his weight. He cautiously made his way up to where the stairs met with the rows.

He started to put his foot down on the second panel, and it immediately crashed to the ground.

"What was that?" Draco called up to him. "Get off!"

"I think we have to find a safe passage across," Harry said. Testing out another panel, it didn't collapse, so he got onto it. It sank a bit, but didn't fall. Next, he tested another panel to the right. It was sturdy, so he got on, and the panel he was previously on smashed to the floor.

"Potter?" Draco called. "Weasel, stop it, damnit! Potter?"

"Malfoy! Get up here!" Harry urged, hurrying him while testing out more panels before the one he was on collapsed. He tested another and it fell to the ground. He released the breath he didn't know he was holding when he found a safe one.

"Jump over here!" Draco instructed Ginny.

Harry looked over to see Draco taking hold of Ginny's hand. The blonde looked very reluctant to be doing this kind gesture, but knew it was the only way to get her to the other side.

"Just hold my hand, okay?" he said to her. "We have to get across here."

"That panel's falling, Malfoy. Hurry up!"

Draco quickly jumped over to where Harry had just been, and then joined him on the same panel he was on. Ginny followed somewhat reluctantly behind him.

"Where now?" he asked.

They heard the panel behind them collapse.

"Draco," Ginny whined. "We're so far up. I'm scared! Get me down!"

Harry ignored them and continued to test the panels as the one they were on started to shake. Draco found the safe one this time, and as the three got on, the other panel dropped. The littlest Weasley was beginning to shake with fright.

"Get me down!" she cried, starting to tug on Draco's robes.

Harry immediately sensed danger and grabbed onto his companion as Ginny stepped onto a wrong panel. She began to fall, but Draco still had her hand. She was clinging to his arm for dear life, dangling in the air. Draco was only still on the platform because Harry moved him back.

"Pull her up!" Harry ordered.

"I'm trying!"

The panel they were on was starting to shake menacingly.

"Come on!" Harry urged him.

Draco gathered his strength and began to pull Ginny up, his teeth gritted in his effort. The panel was beginning to shake, and he could hardly maintain his balance. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and with a quick burst of strength, he was able to pull Ginny up to safety. Not wasting any time, for the panel was about to fall, Harry and Draco jumped onto another panel, Draco pulling Ginny along, and hoped it was a safe one. Thankfully, it was sturdy. They were safe. Draco's heart pounded as he heard the panel that he had been on moments before crash to the floor.

"That was close," Harry said, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh God!" Ginny breathed, looking up at her savior admiringly. "Draco, you saved me!"

Draco groaned. "Let's move. And don't do anything, Weasel."

"Just a few more panels," Harry encouraged.

As slowly as they could afford, they made their way safely across to the ledge that led to the doorway with only a few minor mishaps.

"We did it!" Ginny squealed in delight, and tried to kiss Draco.

"I said no!" he said firmly and moved her away. Ginny just grinned and then turned to Harry.

"Why did you call him up here? You could've gotten us both killed!"

Harry shook his head. She was acting strange because of the spell, and he didn't like it.

"Take care of her, Malfoy," Harry said, and went into the door.

Draco was about to protest, but Ginny kissed him.

Harry looked about the room he had just entered. It was the same as the room before, with the panels and everything.

"What in the world?" Harry wondered aloud.

Draco joined him, pushing a giggling Ginny away.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Draco groaned. "Why are we back here?"

"Beats me," Harry muttered.

"She's not going to go back up there without a fight," Draco said, eyeing her grotesquely.

"You'll carry her if you have to," Harry said simply. He didn't want to watch them; even if Draco was protesting, it was still disgusting.

"I will most certainly not carry her!" Draco spat. "She's _your_ ex, Potter! _You_ carry her."

Harry rolled his eyes and looked around for something different, but nothing was.

"I don't understand!" Harry sighed.

"Do you want to try and cross the panels again?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I don't see anything else we can do." With that said, he started up the stairs.

"Oh no!" Ginny cried. "I am _not_ going back up there!"

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Draco asked, annoyed.

"I'm perfectly fine here!"

He sighed, and Harry heard him say, "I'll take you somewhere alone if you cooperate."

Harry groaned. Malfoy sure knew how to get his way.

"You promise?" Ginny asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Promise," Draco said in a very unconvincing tone. "Now come on."

The two joined him on the panels, and they made it across this time with a lot less difficulty, and with minimum whining from Ginny.

They then very cautiously went through the door, and were horrified to see they were back in the same place.

"This can't be happening!" Harry groaned.

"Why are we back here?" Ginny asked.

"I'm going to murder her, Potter," Draco mumbled.

Harry fought the desperate urge to say "I told you so".

"Go up and step on a panel. I'm going to have a closer look at them," Draco told him.

Harry nodded, happily taking the chance to be away from them. He progressed up the stairs and stepped on a panel that crashed to the floor.

"What's it look like?" he called down.

He saw Draco move Ginny out of the way and bend down to look at the panel.

"It's just a normal looking floor panel," Draco answered.

Harry sighed.

"Come on, you blasted thing!" Draco huffed, and probed it. "Do something!"

The panel made a clicking sound and shot back into the air, slamming into Draco's hand on its way.

"Ah shit!" Draco's shout of pain rang out.

The panel went back into place.

"You all right?" Harry asked.

"Oh Draco! You poor thing," the red-headed girl cooed.

"Get off!" Draco grumbled, shaking her hand off his shoulder. "Potter, try the panel now."

Harry gingerly put a foot on it, and it didn't move at all. He smiled, accomplished.

"It works, Malfoy!"

"Well hurry up, then!" Draco shouted. "Before she starts necking me again!"

Soon, they had created a safe pathway to the door, and Ginny and Draco joined him on the other side.

"Brilliant!" Harry said, giving Draco a smile. "Teamwork!"

"Yeah, yeah," Draco said, annoyed that Ginny was still fawning over him. "Let's get out of here already." He shouldered passed Harry.

The three stepped through the door and found themselves in the mirror room, but this time, instead of panels, there were two doors. One led to the white room, and one led back to the castle.

"Level two completed," the deep voice echoed across the room.

"Oh thank God!" Draco said, and he immediately went towards the golden door.

Harry followed him, and in a bright flashing light, they appeared back into the room. Ginny wasn't there.

---

"That was the most revolting, vile, disgusting thing I have ever had to put up with!" Draco said, wiping his mouth furiously. "I hate your mind, Potter."

Harry grinned. "I told you so."

Draco flashed him a glare. "So you did," he mumbled, upset that Harry was right. He sighed. "I don't think I can last another round of that."

"Well, you'll have to," Harry shrugged.

Draco nodded and looked at the time. "It's already seven. I have to get some stuff done."

"Wait," Harry said, nonplussed.

Draco turned to see that Harry looked a little perturbed. _Oh no, _he thought,_ he's not going to scream again, is he?_

"You said that your father didn't know you're in the games," Harry said. "Why?"

He didn't want to go into his father with the former Gryffindor, but Harry was looking so confused that he felt obligated to answer.

"Because I haven't talked to him," he said. "I haven't heard from my dad since he got shipped off to Azkaban." The raven-haired boy looked disbelieving, and Draco continued, trying to prove it. "Really, if you don't believe me, you can ask the next time we're in the game. Need anything else?" he asked after Harry sighed, almost wishing the other boy wouldn't leave so he could stop thinking about everything that was supposed to be done.

"Yeah," Harry said. "You told me you'd give me the **_Mortuus Sermo_ when we started the games." His eyes were looking hopeful.**

**"Oh, right," Draco said and went to get it, reaching into a desk drawer and pulling it out of a cloth bag. "But you're not getting the spell until the game is over."**

**"I wouldn't back out on you now, Malfoy."**

**Since he had his back to Harry, he allowed himself to smile. Harry was obviously trying to talk his way into getting what he wanted - it was a very Slytherin thing to do. He schooled his face to be impassive before he turned and handed Harry the _Mortuus Sermo_, which was a golden spiky shaped circle no bigger then a golf ball.**

**"It's so tiny," Harry murmured.**

**"It's also really powerful," Draco said. "Be careful with it."**

**"Yeah," Harry said, dazed. **

**"Well, I have a lot of stuff to do, Potter." **

**"Right," Harry nodded. "Are we going to do a research thing sometime this week?"**

**"Yeah, Wednesday," Draco replied. "But we can't do the next level till the weekend because I can't miss class."**

**"Okay," Harry nodded. "See you later, then."**

**Harry took off and Draco frowned. It was nice having company, even if it_ was_ Potter - it got his troubles off his mind.**

**_No time for a break, _he told himself, snapping out of it and blowing out the candles.**

**---**

-Early that Sunday morning-

Hermione awoke at eight thirty with a splitting headache. She groaned as she slowly sat up, and her head throbbed worse.

Maybe it was from the side effects from the protection spell she had done with Parvati last night, or maybe it was because it didn't work and it was the effects of whatever Pansy did. Either way, she knew she would have to figure it out quickly.

"Parvati?" she called, and immediately regretted it as she felt a sharp pain in her head. She heard her roommate roll over in her sleep.

Hermione was having trouble thinking at all because of the pain. The only thought that _did_ come to her mind was, _Oh my God! My head really hurts! _

"You okay?" she heard her other roommate, Bridgett ask.

"N-no," Hermione said, putting her hand to her head and sitting down.

"What's the matter?" Bridgett questioned, her voice sounding too loud for Hermione.

"Head," was the only word Hermione could get out.

Bridgett was looking worriedly at her pained roommate. "Hold on," Hermione heard her mumble before she walked to Parvati and prodded her awake. "Parvati! Wake up! Hermione needs help."

"Huh?" Parvati asked sleepily, peeking through one eye.

"Something's wrong with Hermione!"

Her friend immediately jumped out of bed and went to her. "Hermione, what's wrong? What did they do to you?"

The bushy-haired female pointed to her head, which was still throbbing from every word they said.

"Hold on," Parvati said. "Go get a teacher, Bridgett."

"Right," Bridgett nodded and rushed out of the room.

"It's going to be okay, Hermione," Parvati said calmly, looking very concerned.

Hermione gave a tiny nod and tried to be as still as possible. If she didn't move, she found the pain wasn't as bad.

She heard the door open again, and barely made out Professor Snape heading towards her. Hermione was starting to black out; the pain was filling her head with loud buzzing. It was so loud that it even shut out the sounds of everyone else who seemed to be shouting at her. Suddenly, the ground rushed up to meet her. Then she felt herself hit the ground.

---

When Hermione opened her eyes, both the humming and the pain were gone. In fact, she was feeling oddly numb. She tried to move but found she couldn't. She heard- and saw- the feet of Ron, Parvati, and Bridgett sitting in chairs next to her.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed as he saw her eyes open. "You're awake."

Hermione's head slightly twitched in a nod, not able to open her mouth to speak.

"She can't speak; I put a numbing spell on her," Madam Pomfrey said, coming into sight.

"Why?" Ron asked.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "She was in a lot of pain."

"What happened?" Parvati asked. "Was it the spell?"

"Spell?" Ron asked. "What spell?"

"Let the girl rest for a while. I'll go over the details with her later," Madam Pomfrey said firmly.

Ron nodded reluctantly.

"If you'd like, one of you can help her drink this," she said, holding up a purple potion. "It'll counter the spell I used."

Ron said he would, and Madam Pomfrey rushed off to another room. Turning to Hermione, he smiled.

"You'll be fine," he assured her.

She attempted a smile back, but her face only twitched in response.

When Ron insisted to Parvati and Bridgett that he would take care of her, they left reluctantly. He helped her drink the potion, and soon she was able to move, but was still not making very coherent sentences.

"Tan oo," Hermione blubbered.

"No problem," he grinned. "Don't speak yet, I can't really understand you."

Hermione nodded and swallowed hard. Her throat was dry from the potion.

"You scared me!" he told her. "When Parvati told me you were in the hospital wing, I almost blacked out myself." He gave a little laugh.

Hermione gave a tiny smile back.

"But you're all right, right?" Ron asked, making sure.

Hermione nodded again.

"Good," he said.

Madam Pomfrey came in holding another potion. "You'll need to leave, Mister Weasley. This girl needs her rest for the potion to work."

"When can I see her again?"

"In about a half hour, she'll be able to have visitors again."

"Alright." Ron took Hermione's hand for a moment and gave it a squeeze. "I'll come back later," he promised before leaving.

"Drink this," Madam Pomfrey said, handing Hermione a goblet.

Hermione obliged, quickly swallowing the potion. Her mouth tingled, but she couldn't taste anything but oranges.

"Better?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Yeah," Hermione mumbled, regaining the use of her jaw as the feeling flooded back into her muscles. "Nothin' hurts anymore."

"Would you like to tell me why you had such a powerful protection spell on you?"

Hermione sighed, now finding she had enough control of her tongue and jaw to speak a bit easier. "I thin' some people in my common room are trying to hurt me. I put the protection spell on myself just in case they tried somethin'."

"I see," Madam Pomfrey said. "It was very nicely done, I have to say."

Hermione smiled.

"And it would have worked just fine if there wasn't a conflict of spells."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Whatever spell you were trying to protect yourself from was fighting with the protection spell to get to you. Normally, such a well cast spell would take care of such problems, but the spell used against you was particularly strong. That's why you were in so much pain."

"What spell did they have on me?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure, Ms. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said. "But I believe I've managed to take it off along with the protection spell."

"Oh," Hermione said. "Good."

"You're clearly in danger. Do you know any reason why these people would be harming you?"

"I don't know," Hermione responded, shaking her head.

Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I'm going to send you up sometime to speak with the Headmistress to sort this out."

Hermione nodded in understanding.

"Now get some rest," the nurse ordered. "Your friend will be back to see you later." She gave Hermione a reassuring smile and left.

Hermione rolled over. _What was that spell supposed to have done to me_? _And how is the Headmistress going to help if I can't even help myself?_

She lay there thinking for a very long time, until she heard a person approaching.

"Hermione?" Ron's voice called. "Are you awake?"

Hermione turned over and smiled at him, preparing to tell him everything that had happened to her.


	12. A Symbol

Hermione had just finished explaining to Ron about Pansy, Millicent and Blaise. He stared at her, his eyes round in horror and concern for her.

"They cursed you?" Ron asked bewildered. "How long have they been attacking you?"

"Since this summer," she said softly.

A flash of disappointment ran across Ron's eyes, but he stayed calm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hermione sighed, feeling guilt rush through her. "I thought I could manage it on my own. And I was a little upset at you for not telling me about what Percy had to say."

Ron looked down at his tattered shoes. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I really just wanted to forget about what Percy had to say. I'm not a hero type; Harry is, I'm just…well, I'm just his sidekick I guess you could say."

"Ron, you're not a sidekick!" Hermione said, shocked and appalled that he even felt that way.

Ron shrugged easily. "It's not that big of a deal, Hermione."

"Yes it is, Ron." Hermione said on the verge of tears. "You mean the world to me, okay?"

He smiled softly. "Don't cry, Hermione."

"I'm sorry," she sniffled. "It's just, I've been a horrible friend, I shouldn't have kept this from you, you would've been able to help me through it."

Ron nodded. "It's okay now, I promise."

She held his hand and they stared at one another for a moment in silence. There was a cough from another bed and Ron jumped slightly.

"Madam Pomfrey is sending me up to Aiyana," Hermione said.

"Good, she'll be able to help you sort this out."

"I hope so."

"Hermione, do you want to know what Percy told me?" Ron asked, looking a little frightened.

"Only if you want to tell me." She smiled calmly.

"Okay," Ron started. "Well, it has to do with the Prophecy books…"

---

Two hours later, Hermione found herself walking up a flight of concealed stairs that led up to the headmistress office.

Hermione knocked on the door, and heard two women inside stop speaking. The door opened and Hermione saw Rosaria Snape greeting her. The headmistress' office was neat but cluttered, and more then half the portraits on Aiyana's wall were completely empty.

She turned to see Rosaria fidgeting with a small scroll.

"Come on in, Ms. Granger." Rosaria smiled.

Hermione stepped inside and found Aiyana seated at her desk.

"We'll just continue to discuss this at a later time, shall we?" Rosaria asked.

"Yes, of course," Aiyana smiled, her blue eyes sparkled. Hermione narrowed her eyes curiously, that seemed oddly familiar.

_What does that remind me of?_

"See you in class, Hermione," Rosaria said through a bright smile, and then left out the door, shutting it firmly behind her.

"Have a seat," Aiyana said. Scooting her chair back to have a better look her student.

Hermione sat with her hands folded in her lap looking attentive as if she was getting ready for a teacher to begin class.

"Are you feeling better?" Aiyana asked.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, much. Professor, I think I know who's doing this to me."

"Oh," Aiyana said listening intently. "Who?"

"Pansy, Millicent and Blaise," Hermione listed. "They've got some sort of vendetta on me. I'm not sure why."

"Don't you?" Aiyana asked, and again her eyes reminded Hermione of something that she could not place a finger on.

Hermione went quiet for a moment, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. "I have an idea, but I really can't be certain. And I have no idea why _I'd_ be in them," Hermione said sheepishly.

Aiyana smiled. "Innocent and so modest, Ms. Granger."

"You think I am in the Prophecies, Professor Aiyana?" Hermione asked stunned.

"My dear child," Aiyana said softly. "You are friends with the greatest boy who ever lived. You even surpass him in your cleverness; do you really think there would not be a Prophecy about one of Harry's greatest assets?"

Hermione's cheeks turned from pink to red in embarrassment. "I-I, um…"

Aiyana chuckled. "Do not worry Miss Granger; self-confidence is nothing to be ashamed of."

Hermione didn't know what to say. So she watched the headmistress silently, shifting in her seat.

"Now, if we believe that the reason these three are after you is the Prophecy," Aiyana said. "Then we can safely say that you need protection."

Aiyana stood up. "I know a few spells that I can place on you myself. And I'm very sure that you will be witty enough to come up with a few of your own. But I must warn you." Aiyana looked serious. "Do not be alone in a room with them. I will ask Miss Parvati to escort you when you are in your dormitory and I'm fairly certain Mr. Weasley will be more then honored to escort you to your classes."

Aiyana pulled open a cabinet, and pulled down a spell book. "I believe you may find this one useful."

Hermione took the book, it was leather bound and its gold lettering was fading. "Thank you, Professor."

"So you're clear, Hermione?" Aiyana asked.

"Yes, I won't end up alone with them." Hermione nodded.

"Then you may run along, I'm sure Mr. Weasley is expecting you for dinner."

Hermione smiled and thanked her again, but her hand froze in midair as she reached for the knob, an idea had struck her.

"Excuse me," Hermione asked turning around.

"Yes?" Aiyana asked, her blue eyes twinkled.

Hermione knew exactly who Aiyana reminded her of.

---

At 7:30 Hermione made he way down from Aiyana's room in an odd mood. She had just uncovered something huge, but she had promised to keep her mouth shut. She wanted to tell anyone, anyone at all this news, but she couldn't, not without putting Aiyana into danger.

Hermione found Ron in the great hall filling his plate with food; he stopped when he saw her.

"Hermione!" he said happily. "Sit here."

She sat next to him and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not too hungry," she said. The potions had made her stomach queasy.

"You sure?" Ron asked, stroking her hair for a moment.

Hermione smiled. "Yeah, It's fine. I'll feel better tomorrow."

"Good."

Hermione's smile brightened and she pulled him into a hug.

When they pulled apart Ron looked confused.

"What was that for?"

She didn't answer and Ron quickly got distracted when he looked over to see their best friend entering the hall. He looked dazed and extremely tired.

"Harry! Over here!" Ron called.

Hermione jumped up when she saw him, and pulled him into a hug, he grimaced as he felt the cut on his chest get irritated.

"Ouch," Harry said.

"Oh, what happened, Harry?" Hermione asked, letting him go, but she kept smiling.

"I just got a little cut," Harry assured her. "You're happy, what's up?"

"Harry, mate!" Ron said, coming over. "You've been gone all day, where were you?"

"Trying to uncover some Malfoy related things," Harry said shortly. "Where have you two been?"

"You didn't hear?" Hermione said slowly, the smile fading a little.

"It's been all over the school," Ron said surprised.

"Hear what?"

"I was attacked by Pansy and her gang, and my protection spell combined with her spell knocked me out this morning," Hermione said. "You didn't hear anything about it?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "That sounds really scary. Is anyone putting a stop to them?"

"Actually, Aiyana is helping me. She just asked me to make sure I was never alone with them."

"Good idea," Ron agreed.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"You alright, Harry?" Ron asked. "You seem a bit dazed.

"Oh, I'm alright," Harry answered shrugging it off. "I think I'm just going to get some sleep though. I'm really sorry about this morning, Hermione. I should have known about it."

"It's okay, Harry," Hermione assured. "Just go get some sleep."

Harry nodded and headed out of the Great Hall.

Ron and Hermione watched him go concerned looks on their faces.

"Something's up," Ron said. "And he's certainly not telling us about it."

She sighed. "That's really more trouble then it's worth."

Ron nodded. "Should we talk to him?"

"Of course," Hermione said. "But I don't think he'll tell us unless he's ready to."

---

The next few days passed by very slowly for Harry. He was loaded with homework and the only thing he had to look forward to was research with Malfoy on Wednesday. And even that had its perks and downsides.

He didn't see Malfoy often in the dormitory, for when he awoke he found Malfoy was already up and out of bed. When he did see him they didn't exchange many words, only an occasionally nod of recognition. He didn't find this completely odd, mostly because he and Draco were definitely not friends.

But still, as the days wore on, he found himself looking forward to doing something other than homework.

He helped Ron with escorting Hermione around, but he avoided their questions. He just didn't want them to be worried.

_They clearly have their own things to deal with,_ was Harry's made up reason why he didn't tell them.

When Wednesday evening finally rolled around, he was extremely glad to have an excuse to escape from their questioning.

Harry entered the library after cutting dinner short, and found Draco leaning against a bookshelf, his blonde hair completely unbrushed. Harry had never seen Draco without his hair combed and perfectly in place.

He opened his mouth to ask but found the boy speaking before him.

"I asked thatPince woman about Hector Collins, she's never heard of him," Draco said, pushing himself off the bookcase with a foot.

"That doesn't sound good," he said.

Harry looked like he hadn't slept in a few days, and his messy hair was even more ruffled then usual was rivaling Malfoy's in scruffiness.

"You okay?" Draco asked looking him over.

"Why do you ask?" he questioned, it wasn't like Malfoy to ask how he was either.

"You just look a mess," the blonde said dismissively.

Harry shrugged. "Well, at least it's Wednesday."

"What's that mean?"

"I've just been looking forward to this researching thing," Harry said shortly. "It's better then being asked a million questions."

---

Draco was surprised that Harry had been looking forward to this. Oddly enough, he himself hadn't been thinking of much else all week, which was a relief.

"Well, let's hit the books," Harry said.

He nodded and the two took down a few, and put them at a table, settling in.

"This reminds me of the Triwizard Tournament," Harry said spontaneously.

He looked at him confused.

_Where had that come from?_

"Because of all the research, oh and the Nicolas Flamel thing," Harry continued, looking off into space.

"Nicolas Flamel created a stone that made the elixir of life," he said shortly. "Didn't Granger know that?"

Harry let out a laugh. "It would have been nice to have you around back in first year."

"We weren't friends then-" he cut himself off. Did what he just say mean that he considered himself friends with Harry now?

_No! He_ told himself. _No way._

He felt a pair of green eyes staring at him.

"I mean, you know Potter. We weren't on speaking terms," he corrected himself.

Harry stared at him for a moment longer, and Draco was starting to feel self-conscious.

"Let's read," Draco insisted, turning the attention back to research.

Harry opened a book.

They were reading in silence for a few moments, or at least Harry might have been. He couldn't concentrate on the words in front of him. They blurred as he tried to focus, his eyes wandering everywhere but the page.

He glanced over at Harry who was bent over a book, reading intently.

_His hair looks so odd,_ Draco thought, almost reaching out to fix it. His hand stopped in mid-air when he realized what he was doing, and he quickly snapped himself out of it.

_What the hell are you doing? _

"Find anything?" Harry said, looking up.

Draco jumped at his voice. "What?"

"I said," Harry furrowed his brow, "did you find anything?"

"Oh, no." He shook his head furiously, trying to hide an embarrassed blush. Malfoy's didn't blush, especially after trying to fix someone else's bloody hair.

Harry slid his hand through his hair almost as if mocking him (even though Harry hadn't noticed Draco reaching out), then turned back to the book. Draco noticed the scar upon Harry's forehead.

Harry had received that from the Dark Lord. It was a mark that made him recognizable everywhere.

"That's quite a symbol you got there," he muttered aloud. He wasn't interested in studying at that moment.

"Symbol?" Harry asked, turning away from his book.

"Your scar." He nodded towards it.

_Why are you talking to him about his SCAR? _he questioned himself.

"Symbol?" Harry repeated.

"A symbol of being singled out," he said. "Nobody else has that scar, so it means that you can never escape from what it means."

Harry frowned, confused on why he was talking about his scar.

He frowned as well, unsure why he wanted to talk about Harry's problems, and concerned on why he cared so much about them.

"I bet people recognize it everywhere you go," he said.

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"Is that annoying?" He watched Harry's expression go from confused to completely lost. He knew Harry had never heard him show an interest before.

"Most of the time," Harry said. "Why are you interested all of a sudden?"

Draco shrugged. "I've just started wondering about your life."

Harry eyed the blonde curiously.

"I'm sure you've been wondering about mine," Draco said, hoping it was true and praying it didn't sound incredibly stupid.

"A little I guess," Harry said. "But this is coming from you, Malfoy."

They were silent for a bit. He bit his tongue to stop himself from retorting. The two stared at each other, as if challenging the other to insult them first.

"We should get back to work," Harry finally said.

"Oh right," Draco turned back to his book, but again found he couldn't concentrate. "What about my life were you curious about exactly, Potter?"

Harry looked up again, this time looking concerned. "Are you quite alright, Malfoy?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"Well, for one, you probably look how I feel right now. And then there's also the fact that you keep asking me really random questions," Harry said. "Well, random for you."

He sighed and looked away.

"Malfoy, what's bothering you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Draco grumbled.

"Why?" Harry asked.

_Because if I end up pouring my problems out to you, you'll never talk to me again. _

"Because I can't talk about it," he muttered.

"Hey, you know what I think," Harry said. He looked up at him curiously. "I think that we should just get over whatever is bothering us, right now."

A small smile slid across his lips, amused at Harry.

"Hey, see, a smile!" Harry said, grinning. "You'll be over it in no time."

His smile faded and he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, just while we're researching anyway," Harry said.

"I can't concentrate," he told him.

"Then, erm, fine," Harry started. "Well...What was your childhood like, Malfoy? I mean, was it happy?"

Draco laughed again. "You're actually asking me?" He had only been partly joking before.

Harry smiled. "You can ask me too if you want."

"Right." Draco nodded. "Well, my childhood pretty much sucked. How about yours, Potter?"

"Mine was pretty horrible," Harry muttered. "My Aunt and Uncle hated me, and Dudley liked to kick me around a lot."

"Sounds like a man after my own heart," Draco said half-heartedly.

"He's afraid of me now though," Harry said. "Ever since I went off to study here."

"Afraid you'll curse him?" Draco asked.

"Yeah."

"Like you would do that," Draco said, disbelieving.

"Hey, I've blown up my Aunt before," Harry countered. "Not on purpose really."

"I would be mutilated if I blew up any of my relatives," Draco said, shocked. "My dad would personally lock me up in the Isolation Chamber for a month."

"Isolation Chamber?" Harry asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"It's a torturing chamber my dad uses," he said.

"Has he ever put you in it?" Harry asked softly.

He didn't answer, stifling a shudder from a fleeting memory that was making his way back into his head.

Harry looked horrified.

"That's awful!" Harry sputtered.

"Yeah, well, that's my dad." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"What about your mum?" Harry asked. "Is she nicer?"

"My mum is nice enough." He shrugged. "She's never as horrible as dad when it comes to punishing me."

The two boys fell into silence again, silver eyes on framed green eyes.

"Erm," said Draco, feeling uncomfortable. "Let's get back to reading. I think I can concentrate now."

"Okay," Harry said, and went back to his book.

He turned to his own book, and then looked at Harry again who was shifting in his seat. Harry was still in his school robes, and Draco saw two necklace chains leading under his shirt. He reached for his own neck and found the dragon pendant one still on. It was essential for the game, and so was the other one that Harry had, it allowed them back into the games whenever they wanted.

Harry was a skinny guy, Draco noticed, like himself. That's what made them such good Quidditch players.

Draco felt a stab of pain from the X scar on his chest as he moved his necklace across it, he winced.

"Do you have a cut from the Dragon Games?" he asked Harry aloud.

Harry looked up.

"What?"

"Do you have a cut on your chest?" he repeated, feeling like he was annoying the boy.

"Erm, yeah." Harry nodded. "I thought it would go away when we got out of the games, but it didn't."

He nodded; he had thought the same thing.

Harry's emerald eyes sparked from behind his glasses, and Draco was captivated by them, not able to turn away.

"Has yours randomly started to bleed?" Harry asked.

He snapped his eyes away. "Once or twice."

They two boys looked up to see Draco's owl flying in with a letter, it was not addressed on the envelope, but he had a feeling he knew who it was from.

He quickly untied the letter and the bird flew off.

"I have to take care of this," he said, relieved to be able to get out of the room, which was seeming oddly small.

"Oh, alright," Harry said. "I'll stay for a while longer."

"Great," he said distractedly, and he started to leave, feeling Harry's eyes on him until he turned the corner.

_Oh man, _he thought._ I really need to get a grip on myself. What was that back there? _

Draco shoved those thoughts from his mind. The letter in front of him was more important. Or at least, that's what he had to tell himself nearly the whole way he was walking to keep his thoughts off the former Gryffindor.

He hurried into the Room of Magic and shut the door. He put the back of his head to the door, muttering incoherent curse words under his breath.

_Har-Potter's not important, this letter is. Potter's not your friend. You don't care what he thinks. Why did I care about his scar...I meant to mock him, that's it. I'm just too distracted. Gotta fix that._

He opened the letter, and it was from exactly whom he thought it was from, his father.

He sat down on a chair at a desk and began to read.

---

Harry had never had an encounter with Malfoy quite like that before. He was deeply confused by the boy's questions, and even more concerned by how bad off the boy looked.

He rubbed his forehead where his scar was, and thought about what Draco had said.

_I guess it sort of is a symbol_, he thought. _I just wish I could get rid of it at times._

The raven-haired boy sighed and then turned back to the books.

---

Draco came out of the room a half hour later and was disappointed to find Pansy waiting for him outside the maze of halls that it took to get into the room. She had her arms crossed, and her eyes narrowed.

"Draco," Pansy sneered. "We need to talk."

"Not in the mood." He started past her.

He felt her hand grab onto his shoulder.

"I don't care what you're in the mood for," she hissed.

He turned around. "What then? You going to tell me how you still don't believe me? I could really care less."

"No! I saw you with Potter in the library," Pansy growled.

"You have eyes, good for you," he drawled.

"You were researching with him? Since when are you study buddies with that...with _Potter_?"

"Since I realized I had a job to do," Draco answered, ignoring the twinge of annoyance he felt as she insulted Harry.

"Job?" she said, raising an eye. "You mean, you're doing something for-"

"Look, Pansy," he said. He knew what to tell her to make her lay off. "I'm not supposed to discuss my plans. They'd be very pissed off if I did."

"Does your father know?" she asked. "That you're hanging out with Potter?"

"Yes," Draco hissed. "He wants me to."

"I think you're lying!" she argued. "He doesn't know."

_Why is she so arrogant?_ he asked himself, it would have been easier to get rid of her if she wasn't such a conniving bitch.

"You caught me," he said with no enthusiasm. "Father doesn't know. He wouldn't understand my plans for, Potter."

"So you're planning on hurting him?" she asked with a smirk.

"It's on the agenda," he answered.

For the first time he found his patience wearing thin as he talked to Pansy. Normally he could deal with her for hours. That's what he had to do on a regular basis anyhow.

"Now, leave me be." he demanded.

"Does the Dark Lord know of your plans?" Pansy asked.

"Yes, in fact he does." He shrugged, trying to move away.

Pansy thought for a moment. "I'm telling your father, Draco."

He stopped in his steps and closed his eyes in a groan.

"What the bloody hell would you do that for?" he asked his face growing hot in anger.

If she told his dad, it would mess up everything he had been working towards.

"He needs to know what you're up to," she said. "He'll at least make sure that you're not doing anything stupid."

Pansy started to walk away, and this time Draco grabbed her arm, squeezing it a little harder then he meant to.

"Ouch!" Pansy cried.

"You will not tell my dad anything!" he growled viciously.

"Let me go!" Pansy whined.

He held her tighter.

"You got it?" Draco lowered his voice. "You will not tell my father anything!"

Pansy pulled away and she glowered at him, holding onto her arm. "I'll think about it."

Draco was pissed, she was ruining everything.

She ran off, and he knew it was too much to hope that she wouldn't tell his father. He needed to come up with something, and fast.


	13. Calling the Dragon

Over the next few weeks, Harry and Draco were bogged down with homework. Harry noticed that Draco seemed to be avoiding him, and he was getting quite concerned. Draco tended to disappear at random times, frequently arrived late to class, didn't eat much, and didn't seem to be sleeping much, either. The only reason Harry knew this, though, was because he himself was sleeping less and less every night.

The abnormal Malfoy behavior was beginning to concern Harry. He'd never had Draco avoiding him before- only throwing insults at him. Now, whenever he saw him in the halls or during lunch, he would disappear before he could talk to him.

Hermione hadn't had any more incidents with Pansy, but often she would complain of getting sharp pains in her head. Each time that happened, Ron would insist upon her going to see Madam Pomfrey.

Finally, four weeks into their first term, Harry found a note on his bed one afternoon from Draco, telling him they would be playing that Saturday. He became anxious, and the remainder of the week dragged on.

At last, Harry awoke at eight o'clock Saturday morning to find that Draco was already gone from his bed. He sighed and quickly got dressed.

This time, he was going to find out what Voldemort had to do with the games - _if_ he had something to do with them.

"You're awake," Draco said, surprised as Harry entered the room. He looked as if he had managed to get _some_ sleep last night.

"Uh huh," he nodded. "And you're actually speaking to me."

"I wasn't ever _not_ speaking with you," Draco said, ignoring Harry's tone while lighting more candles.

"You've been avoiding me for the past couple of days!" he said indignantly.

_He has, hasn't he? I haven't just been imagining it?_

"Whatever you say," Draco muttered. "Sit. I want to get this level over with; I'm not looking forward to having Weasel on my arm the whole time."

Harry stared at him for a moment, but Draco didn't look at him. Finally, he joined him on the floor.

They concentrated, holding their breath, and soon arrived in the white room. Both boy's flinched as they heard the Dragon's screech, knowing what was coming next.

The pain was ten times worse than Harry remembered as the gash on his chest was opened up again.

"The good news, Potter," he heard Draco mutter, "is you won't be the only one with _this _scar."

_That's one way to think of it._

The two boys stood up and Harry caught sight of Ginny running towards Draco.

"Oh, Draco! I've missed you!" she cried, nuzzling him.

Draco groaned. "Go away."

"You're so silly," Ginny giggled, grabbing onto his arm. "What are you two doing?"

Harry rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to speak at the same time as Draco.

"Playing a game," they said simultaneously.

They looked at each other.

"Oh bloody hell!" Draco groaned. "She just wasted a question!"

"But we didn't ask it!"

"I don't think it matters; we're in the Chamber of Truth. As long as someone asks a question, no matter who it is, it counts." Draco sighed. "Weasel, do me a favor and don't ask any more questions."

"But," Ginny pouted, "why not?"

"Because you're wasting our bloody turns!" Draco shouted at her, pushing her away. "Now that's two you've wasted! Sit down and shut it!"

Harry grimaced at how Draco was treating her, but knew it was for the best. Ginny folded her hands across her chest and shut her mouth.

"What does Voldemort have to do with this game?" Harry asked quickly.

Draco pondered for a moment. "Almost everything. He knows I'm here, if that's what you mean."

_I knew it! _

"Would you believe me if I said I don't intend to hand you over to Voldemort?" Draco asked him, seemingly sincere.

Harry stared for a moment and thought, _Huh? _

"Maybe," he said. "_Do_ you intend to?"

Harry watched as Draco rolled his eyes at him; the former Slytherin clearly thought he would take his word for it.

"No," Draco sneered. "Now tell me, what's bothering you so much that you can't sleep?"

_How does he know? And why is he asking? _

"Well, this game, Voldemort, you, the Mortuus Sermo, Ginny," he listed, realizing that a lot was on his mind. Ginny shot him a glare. "Hermione being attacked, prophesies being destroyed, people trusting me to take care of them. The list goes on and on."

"Jeez," Draco muttered. "I had no ide-" He was interrupted by the door sliding open to reveal another room.

"Try to get her to wait in here," Harry said with a tilt of his head towards the littlest Weasley.

Ginny was beginning get antsy, starting to come out of her anger from when Harry and Draco had yelled at her for speaking.

"I can try," Draco grimaced. "Hey, Weasel-Bee."

"Yeah, Draco-err-Dee?" Ginny said rather lamely.

Draco closed his eyes for a moment, as if praying for patience. "Why don't you wait in here for me? It's a lot safer," he tempted her.

"No! You can't leave me all alone," Ginny said. "And plus I can't be without you."

Draco took in a deep, steadying breath, trying to hold in his impatience.

"It's okay," Harry said, sighing along with him. "We'll work it out."

They stepped through the door and ended up on a large grassy hill. On the ground lay two swords. Harry picked one up, knowing it was better to be armed sooner than later.

"Draco, no!" Ginny whined, seeing Draco stepping towards the last sword. "You'll hurt yourself if you try to swing that thing around."

When he ignored her and picked up his own sword, she yanked on his arm.

"Put it down!" she ordered.

"Geroff!"

Ginny batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "Come on, do it for me?"

Harry sighed and looked over the edge of the hill. Below was a long grassy field that was covered in thousands of men, all with swords.

"Uh... Malfoy..." Harry said, overwhelmed.

"Move! What? Go away!" Draco stood next to him and peered over. "That looks…"

Ginny peered down as well. "What is everyone doing down there?"

"Do we have to fight them all?" Harry asked.

"I think- ouch, no dammit!- we have to," Draco said, fending Ginny from his face.

"Right," said Harry. "Are you going to be able to with her?"

"Not easily," Draco admitted.

"I thought so," he said.

"I'll handle it," Draco insisted. "Even if I have cut her down a size."

"What?" he asked, appalled.

"I'm kidding!" Draco assured. "I won't cut off your honey's legs or anything."

"I'm not Harry's!" Ginny spat out. "I'm _yours_, Draco."

"Yeah, whatever," Draco said.

"Well, then let's do this," Harry said.

The three started down the hill and the moment they came into view, a handful of the men spotted them and started at them.

Harry and Draco rose up their swords and Ginny coward behind Draco, grabbing his waist.

The men, as it turned out, weren't much of a fight. They went down easy enough. The only thing that was starting to drive Harry mad was that they never seemed to stop coming. In addition, Ginny, who was starting to realize that she wasn't in any danger, was starting to distract Draco again.

"You can kill them with your eyes closed!" she said, trying to kiss him.

Draco dodged her and took down two more.

"You're so strong!" Ginny said with glee.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Draco yelled at her. "Potter, did she ever drive you this mad?"

Harry grinned at past memories. "No, we were a lot more civil."

"Draco-Dee!" she giggled again. "I like that nickname for you."

"DO NOT call me Draco-Dee!" Draco ordered.

"Then what can I call you? Baby? Sweetheart?"

The blonde grimaced, trying his best to ignore her, and Harry could tell it wasn't easy for him. "Why won't these guys go away already!?" he shouted.

"I don't know," Harry said, starting to get exhausted. "They're never ending!"

"Get off!" Draco ordered to Ginny. "Yeah, but they keep attacking us! We can't just stop, they'll kill us!"

Harry and Draco were stuck. They kept attacking, but they were growing weary. Not to mention that Draco was having an even harder time of it, trying to ward off Ginny who nearly got his hand cut off twice.

"Malfoy, what are we going to do?" His head was spinning from exhaustion.

"I-I don't know," Draco said, taking up his sword and giving a very half-hearted swipe.

"We can't keep this up," he said.

He was starting to feel ill, but the men kept coming, and there was just as many from when they started.

"What about the Dragon?" he asked.

Draco didn't respond for a moment.

"Alright!" he finally said. "Back up the hill! Now!"

The two of them ran, but Draco had to go back and get Ginny, who had stayed in confusion.

The men didn't follow them up the hill, and both boys were breathing hard when they reached the top.

"Did we even make a dent in their army?" Draco asked, peering over.

"Doesn't look like it," Harry said, taking a deep breath.

"Draco, you're all dirty," Ginny whined.

"So are you," Draco said, not looking at her.

"How do we call the Dragon?" Harry asked.

"Dragon?" Ginny squeaked.

Draco put a hand to her mouth. "We just have to summon him. You have your pendants, right?

"Yeah," Harry said, un-tucking them from his shirt.

"Good, well, we're just going to say- ouch!" Draco yelled and looked at the girl, completely appalled and baffled. "You bit me!"

Ginny grinned. "You were covering my mouth, silly."

Draco turned to Harry, giving him a 'can-you-believe-this-girl' look. He shrugged.

"Well, anyway," Draco muttered, giving her a slight glare, holding his hand where she had bit it. "We summon the Dragon by saying something along the lines of 'Dragon, we've gotten lost on our journey, help us to get on track.' And he comes."

"Well, let's do that."

Draco sighed, clearly not up for the idea.

"What?"

"It's just… what if we need him again?" Draco asked.

"Well, we need him right now, and don't we get another time?" Harry asked. He agreed with Draco about being careful, but he also knew that if they fought for much longer, they wouldn't last.

"Sort of." Draco sighed. "Look, let's just get this done. We've wasted a lot of time doing nothing."

"Right."

The two said the line and they heard the screech of the Dragon, and both of their chests seared in pain.

"Oh, that bites," Draco muttered from the pain.

Ginny grabbed a hold of Draco's hand as she looked into the sky. Harry and Draco looked up to see the Dragon - a Hungarian Horntail, no less- settling down in front of them.

"Gamers, you've called me to your side. What is your question?" The Dragon's voice was the deep voice that had been talking to them the whole game.

He didn't know what to ask, so he let Draco handle it. Ginny was too stunned to talk at the current moment, so that wasn't going to be an immediate problem.

"What exactly are we supposed to do in this level?" Draco asked.

The Dragon chuckled for a moment. "Really, gamers, you must ask me this? Well, so be it. You must venture your way through the mercenary zombies and find the center of the field. There you will find a portal that will take you up to where you will be asked a question and a trial will be set forth. Good luck to you."

The Dragon flew off.

"Mercenary zombies?" Harry asked. It sounded like some sort of video game Dudley would play.

"Well, you heard the Dragon," Draco said. "Let's get to it."

Harry noticed that Draco seemed like he wanted to get away from something as quickly as possible. He wasn't sure if it was Ginny or himself, as Ginny had become deadly silent due to her shock.

"Shouldn't we try to find the center from here?" he asked. "After all, we can see pretty much everything."

"Oh yeah," Draco said. "Good idea."

Harry spotted a beam of light far off in the distance.

"Over there," he pointed.

Draco nodded and they took off, prepared to fight their way towards the light.

"Weasel! Get behind me!" Draco ordered her.

"But you can't see what's coming after me from behind."

"Potter's got my back," Draco mumbled. "Just don't rush off again."

"Anything you say," Ginny said softly, but still with a terrified squeak.

Finally they had reached the light, and Draco pushed Ginny who was very weary in first. She disappeared in a bright flash, and the two boys stared.

"Oh, this is nice," Draco said, closing his eyes in bliss.

"Huh?"

"Nothing's hanging on me, nothing's whining at me," Draco grinned.

"Just move it," Harry said, laughing at him.

"Just let me enjoy the moment!"

"We don't have time," Harry said with a smile.

Draco sighed and gave him an unreadable smile just before muttering something under his breath and walking into the light. He flashed off, and Harry walked in after him, appearing in a small darkened room.

"Here is a trial, Gamers. Think hard and imagine every dark and horrible thing you have ever experienced. Do not exaggerate or belittle it or I will know," the voice told them.

Harry and Draco shot each other looks before they both closed their eyes and began to concentrate.

"Now stop," the voice echoed.

They both opened their eyes. Harry looked over to see Ginny practically clinging onto Draco in pure fright.

"Ahead of you will appear two doors. Go to the door in front of your partner and enter. You will face your partner's worst memories."

---

Hermione met Ron outside by the lake that morning after breakfast. She had put on her best clothes and even tried to do her hair differently, but she kept getting frustrated and soon gave up. Ron himself had spent ten minutes in front of the mirror trying out different things with_ his_ hair.

The two were sitting, holding hands, and talking about nothing in particular. Hermione set her head on Ron's shoulder as she yawned.

"Are you tired?" he asked, watching her.

"A bit," she said. "I woke up from a bad nightmare last night."

"Nightmare?" Ron asked.

Hermione picked up her head. "Yeah. Pansy and the other two had me suspended in air and they were tossing me about, knocking me against things."

"That's awful!" he exclaimed.

"It was just a dream," she shrugged.

"You sure?" he asked. "You could tell the Headmistress about it."

"I think she has had enough of my false alarms," she said lightly. "Especially when they turned out just to be headaches and not dooming spells."

"You can't be too careful," he told her. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Hermione smiled broadly, Ron smiled as well.

"Hermione," he started, leaning his head towards hers.

"Yeah?" Hermione asked, short of breath, realizing he was about to kiss her.

"I-"

Hermione jerked away in pain. There was a scream of laughter, and a cruel voice whispering something in a language she couldn't identify.

"Hermione?" Ron asked. "What's wrong?"

The voice stopped, the pain stopped.

"Didn't you hear that?" she asked. _Had it just been in my head_?

"Hear what?"

"Someone was muttering something, and they were laughing at me."

"Don't worry, Hermione," Ron said, helping her stand. "We're going to put a stop to them."

Hermione nodded as he led her towards the hospital wing.

---

Hermione was lying in a bed, Ron standing over her.

"Madam Pomfrey will fix you right up," he assured her.

"Thanks Ron," she smiled.

Her smile encouraged him a little, and told him she was going to be fine. He took her hand, and she closed her eyes for a moment. Ron suddenly felt her whole body twitch in pain, and her face was in an expression of pure horror.

"Hermione!" he cried.

She stopped twitching.

"I'm okay," she told him.

"Did you hear the voice again?" he asked, not believing her.

Hermione nodded, and suddenly he had an idea strike him.

"I'm going to go take care of something," he told her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, unsure.

"I'm going to solve a problem," Ron answered. "I'll be right back, okay? No worries."

He cupped her face for a moment, gave her a reassuring smile, and then took off out of the hospital wing.

Ron searched through the castle and finally found who he was looking for in the crowded entrance hall because breakfast had just finished.

"Pansy!" he yelled through the crowd, wildly pushing his way towards her.

Pansy looked wide-eyed as he got nearer, and Blaise and Millicent started to shrink back, but he pulled out his wand.

"You two!" he shouted at them. "Not so fast! I need a word with you three."

The whole entrance hall was watching the scene, but he didn't notice anyone else.

"What's gotten into you, Weasley?" Pansy grumbled.

"You know perfectly well, you bastards!" Ron shouted. "Take it off her!"

"Take what off whom?" Pansy asked innocently.

"I'm not afraid to curse you, Parkinson!" he yelled. "Take it off, _now_!"

"I really don't know what you're talking about. Do you Blaise, Millicent?" she asked, getting Ron's attention on them.

"We don't have a clue," Blaise grumbled.

Ron snatched him by the robes. "Hermione doesn't deserve this from you three! She didn't do anything to any of you! Take off the goddamn spell!"

Blaise looked horrified as Ron raised his wand.

"Put your wand down," Pansy said, holding out her own.

Ron rolled his eyes. "I'm not frightened, Parkinson!"

"Why are you so upset?" Pansy crooned. "All we did was give your girlfriend a new friend."

"What did you do to her?" Ron asked through gritted teeth.

Ron and Pansy now had their wands on each other, and Millicent was hiding behind Blaise.

"It's just a little curse," Pansy sneered. "It'll only damage her mind."

"Only?! Go to hell, Pansy!" he shouted, which only made Pansy smile evilly. "You're going to take it off!"

"Oh Weasley, I wouldn't even if I could." She shrugged. "I'm afraid that was a one way spell."

"You're lying!" Ron hissed.

"So what if I am? What are you going to do about it?" She mocked.

Livid, he raised his wand to curse her when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see the Headmistress looking grim, staring sternly at Pansy.

"Excuse me, Mr. Weasley," Aiyana said. "I'm very sorry to interrupt your spell, but I need to see Miss Parkinson, Miss Bulstrode and Mister Zabini up in my office."

Ron blinked. _He_ wasn't getting in trouble, but _they_ were.

"Come along," Aiyana told them.

Pansy, Millicent and Blaise slowly followed her out and Ron sighed.

_Well, at least she'll take care of it,_ he thought, slightly upset that he wasn't able to get revenge on them.

He sighed and turned to head back up to the hospital wing and came to find everyone staring at him. He looked for Harry, but found he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

_Where in the world has he gone off to? _


	14. Worst Nightmare

The air was heavy and hot, no light coming from anything. Draco was suspended in a black abyss. He had just passed through the door in front of Harry with Ginny, but now, Ginny was nowhere to be seen.

He was thankful for that, but still a bit confused on where she had gone.

Draco saw a flash of blinding green light, and he found himself unable to move. There was a screaming woman in front of him. She was pleading with a man that was undoubtedly Voldemort, but Draco had never seen him look almost human before.

It was a surreal experience as he watched helplessly Voldemort tower over the woman. She had flaming hair, and beautiful piercing green eyes that he recognized from somewhere.

Draco wanted to shout at the woman, to save her; but Voldemort was rising up his wand.

The woman screamed in pain as Voldemort performed the killing curse on her, Draco tried to scream as well, but all that came out was a loud baby's cry.

_What's going on?_ Draco thought desperately as Voldemort approached him.

_Is this a memory of Harry's? _

Voldemort was grinning heinously at him, and as he raised his wand, the flashing green light blinded him, along with a sharp pain in his forehead.

When the light had vanished, he was standing facing his old Professor, Quirrell. He looked down at his own body and saw it was his own, but that wasn't how Quirrell was perceiving it.

He was unable to control his own body or thoughts, as everything played out to Harry's memories.

He was horrified when Quirrell took off his turban to reveal Lord Voldemort's paled and ashen face behind it.

_Oh Merlin!_ he thought wildly. The sharp pain ran through his head again.

"The stone!" he heard Voldemort screech.

He stumbled backwards and Quirrell advanced on him, reaching for something in his pocket.

His hands grabbed Quirrell's face, and the pain was more overwhelming then ever before. He felt himself sinking to the ground as Quirrell's face sizzled in his hands, burning away the flesh.

_Oh fuck! _he thought disgusted.

When he thought the pain would never stop, he opened his eyes and he was down inside a chamber. The air was damp, and he was facing something he had never imagined, a large dead body of a snake. However, the pain gone from his head was now placed in his whole arm. He glanced over to see himself bleeding.

"So ends the famous Harry Potter," a voice startled him.

He looked out to see Ginny dying on the floor; and as it turned out, the person who had put her there was none other then Voldemort himself. Only, this was a much younger, almost ghost-like figure of the schoolboy Tom Riddle that Draco had seen pictures of in history books.

"Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged."

_Chamber of Secrets?_

He had remembered all the rumors going around about Harry and...

_Oh my arm! I think I'm dying!_

He felt his strength fading fast.

"You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry..."

He couldn't think as Tom Riddle spoke to him. He couldn't even lift his head.

"She bought you twelve years of borrowed time...but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he would..."

Suddenly Draco felt himself healing, and he left the memory for the first time conscious. His body was tugged hard, and then he appeared out by the Forbidden Forrest.

There was a full moon out, and he saw the Whomping Willow lashing behind him. He noticed Ron on an invisible stretcher being pulled along by Remus Lupin. There was a man next to him, shaggy hair, sullen eyes, and a calm composure who was dragging Snape clumsily after him. And there was Granger, and Peter Pettigrew also.

_What is this?_

He had been told about Sirius Black, he had seen the photos of wanted pictures around, and he recognized the man next to him to fit that description.

_Why was Potter with Sirius Black? _It made no sense.

Black flung out an arm and he ran into it.

He noticed Lupin's shadow had gone rigid and his limbs shaking.

"Oh, my –" Granger cried out. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

Draco whipped around confused. _Potion? What was..._Lupin was morphing into a werewolf.

_Oh Gods! _Then a thought struck him in spite of his fright. _Was Potter bitten? Is he a werewolf? _

There was a lot of confusion and his glance dropped to Peter Pettigrew lunging for Lupin's dropped wand.

"_Expelliarmus!_" he heard his own voice shout.

But the spell was too late, Pettigrew transformed into a rat before his eyes and scurried off into the night.

So, that was how Peter had come back..._If he wasn't bitten, then I wonder why that's one of Potter's worst memory's._

He was starting to get used to the memory thing, it was sort of like free images to examine, only he was experiencing whatever pain and torture happened to Harry.

Draco continued going through Harry's worst nightmares. He witnessed Cedric be killed. And then Black's death by Bellatrix. Then he was in a room, writing, and Umbridge was there, and his hand was bleeding as he wrote.

And then, he was in a bathroom.

And he saw what Harry had seen: he himself was crying.

_Oh Gods! _Draco thought horrified, reminded of that terrible incident last year. _Get me out of here!_

The memory could not go fast enough for Draco, and finally ended when Snape bursting through the door.

Draco found himself watching Dumbledore's death. But first was forced to watch himself threaten Dumbledore, unable to curse him. It was awful to watch. _Please let this stop! _Draco begged furiously.

He closed his eyes, and in a flash of light, he was back outside the glowing doors, Harry had just been thrown out as well, and Ginny was standing next to him, shaking terribly. Both boys were breathing hard, as if they had been running for a long time.

---

Harry had just passed through the abyss, and now he was sitting in a dark cellar, staring up at the only exit. Lucius Malfoy was peering down at him through the trap door, sneering.

"This will teach you, Draco, to never talk that way to your father again." Lucius snapped the door shut.

Everything had gone pitch black. Harry heard his voice scream up at Lucius, "Dad! No, please! I didn't mean to! Dad, get me out of here."

But Lucius didn't come back, no matter how much he screamed.

Harry quickly learned that he had no control of his actions or voice and realized that he was living Draco's memories. He also guessed, from the sound of his voice as he cried that Draco was about six years old when this had taken place.

Time passed and Harry didn't know how long he was in that room, but before he knew it he was beyond starving, slowly dying from dehydrated, and going slightly mad from isolation. He didn't know how many times he reached for the trap door, but each time it was to no avail, it wouldn't budge.

He felt himself curling up on the ground, crying for hours until he couldn't cry anymore. He lost his voice, and he sat in silence, day after day...only to Harry it seemed like he was only there for an hour, but he felt the intensity of everything.

There was a bright blinding light as the trap door opened.

Harry was standing in front of a group of eight Death Eaters, all of whom were staring at him, hoods on. Harry noticed there was a Muggle girl tied to a post.

"Go on now, Draco," he heard Lucius voice coax him.

Harry gulped, and then turned to his father. "But, Father, I-"

"Draco, do not disappoint me," said Lucius in a stern voice.

Harry nodded and turned to the girl, his wand out. His head was a whirlwind of emotions as he spoke.

"Crucio!" Harry shouted. His mind rattled in pain.

There were a series of flashes of pain, and curses and screaming that raced through Harry's mind. Every memory quickly entering and empting just as fast.

_These must have been memories that Draco didn't fully recover_, Harry thought. In each flash Lucius was always there, and he was always forced to obey him.

There was a flash, Harry was standing in a graveyard, and someone hit him with the Cruciatuscurse. He doubled over in pain, his body bursting and moving uncontrollably.

"Tell, me Draco," said a menacing voice behind him. "What is it that you expected to gain from all this?"

Harry took a huge breath as the curse was removed, but his body still stung from the after effects.

"I can't do it," Harry muttered softly. "I won't"

The curse hit him again, and he yelled in pain.

"You have no choice but to accept his terms, Draco."

Harry saw Lucius bend down next to him.

"Everything we have comes at a cost," Lucius continued. "This is just a small payment you must make; a chance to prove yourself as a loyal servant to the Dark Lord."

Harry stared up at him, eyes glazing in pain.

Another flash and he was in a new memory.

Harry was now bowing in front of Voldemort. Voldemort was instructing him on how he must prove himself, telling him that if he failed, he would be killed.

"You will kill Albus Dumbledore," Voldemort informed him.

Harry held his breath.

He felt a large tug, and he appeared elsewhere again.

He was in a large dark basement. There were torturing tools laid out on a silver tin table. Chains, a whip, spikes, a torch. Everything you would need to change someone's frame of mind.

There was a young man tied to a chair, and he found himself tied to a chair opposite him, his eyes unable to close. They started to water in frustration.

"Draco, darling," said a voice beside him, it was soft and famine. "Listen to what your father says, okay? He knows what's best for you."

Narcissa Malfoy came into view, kissing him on his forehead, and realizing the chains on his hands.

"Mom?" he said almost incoherently.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Narcissa said, and she left out the door, Lucius stepped in after her.

Harry watched him sneer at the person tied up.

"This is a test, Draco; before you go back to Hogwarts you have to know how far you will be expected to go," Lucius told him. "Find out what he knows. I'll be back for you and the information in a few hours."

Draco didn't protest, though Harry's mind was protesting. He didn't want to watch Draco (or himself in this case) torture this boy.

His eyes turned to the boy as Lucius shut the door. And he felt himself picking up a large knife.

And without even apologizing, he stuck the knife towards the boys throat.

"Tell me," he hissed. "And I'll make this easy on you."

The man was in his twenty, fair brown hair, and black eyes. He didn't answer, looking set on never speaking a word.

Harry felt himself slash the boy on the arm.

As hard as he tried against harming the boy, Draco continued along, never stopping, not even when the boy was on the ground shaking uncontrollably.

"Tell me!" he spat.

Finally the boy let out a gasp and cry, and then said. "A-a-lright..."

Another memory. He was standing with Snape, and he was in hysteria.

"I can't do it! He's going to kill me! I need to get out of here! Please, you have to help me! Please!"

Harry was taken aback to see Draco had been like this.

Another memory and he was in _the_ bathroom.

_Bloody hell! _Harry thought, as he entered the memory.

He heard his real self from the memory mutter the curse, and immediately felt like he was being ripped apart. Everything burst into pain all over his body until he could feel nothing at all, and then everything turned black.

He blinked, and he was standing with Snape again, but this time they were addressing Voldemort.

"He's dead," he told him.

"You have done well, Draco," Voldemort said. "And for this, you will be rewarded."

There was a flash, and Harry was tossed out of the glowing door.

He was panting hard, and he looked over to see Draco, looking just as bewildered as himself.

Harry couldn't speak, he was shaken from the encounter in Malfoy's mind.

Ginny let out a squeak, and she collapsed to the floor.

"Ginny?" Harry asked.

She whimpered and curled into a ball.

"Weasel?" Draco bent down as well.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked.

"It was horrible," Ginny whispered. "Everything was so dark, so awful!"

Harry thought she was talking about his memories.

Draco ushered her up, and helped her stand.

"I really can't blame her," Draco told him. "Everything in there was so…" Draco couldn't find a word to describe it.

"Your memories were the same way," Harry said quickly.

Draco avoided his gaze, as if ashamed of what he did.

"Let's get out of here," Draco said.

They saw the door back to the castle, Harry nodded.

Ginny let out a piercing shriek.

"No! No! I'm not going back in, you can't make me! Please don't make me! Please," she cried, throwing her hands around Draco's neck.

Draco didn't hug her back, instead he looked at Harry.

But he was looking at Ginny, watching her closely.

"What did you see?" Harry asked.

She made a shuttered breath, and then pointed to him. "I saw, everything...you...and you...and me in the Chamber...And you hurt him!" she said, throwing her hands out horrified. "You hurt my Draco! How dare you? You bloody-"

"Whoa." Draco grabbed her before she could jump him.

"But, Draco! He-"

"-I know perfectly well what HE did," he snapped at her.

_Why is Draco protecting me from Ginny? _he thought surprised.

"Fine," Ginny said angrily. "I was just trying to protect you."

"I don't need your protection," Draco said, rolling his eyes. Let's go back," he said to Harry.

"Okay."

"Well, Weasel," Draco said to Ginny. "Don't ever touch me again."

Draco stepped through the door, leaving a disgruntled, pouting Ginny behind. Harry followed after him, and they warped back to the castle.

---

Hermione was screaming, her hair tangling, sprawled out across her pillow as she tossed in pain. Ron was holding her hand again, whispering comforting words. Madam Pomfrey came bustling in. Hermione's body relaxed and she had passed out again.

"Let me see her, dear," Madam Pomfrey said.

Ron moved out of the way, as she began to examine Hermione.

"Is she going to be okay?" Ron asked.

"I'm sure she'll be fine."

_That doesn't sound so definite_, Ron thought grimily. _I need her to be okay._

Ron heard footsteps approaching and he turned to see Ginny coming towards him.

"Ron," Ginny rushed foreword. "Is she okay?"

"I dunno," Ron muttered.

"Miss Granger is currently unconscious and needs a great deal of more tests; Mr. Weasley, your sister can be in here for ten minutes, and then no more visitors or I'm afraid you will not be allowed in." Madam Pomfrey gave them a sharp look and then left the room.

Ginny glanced over at Hermione.

"What did they do to her?" Ginny said softly, and then off Ron's confused look said, "the whole school is talking about your confrontation with Pansy and the lot. It's so awful."

"They cursed her," Ron muttered. "Madam Pomfrey hasn't identified the spell yet."

"Poor Hermione," Ginny whispered.

"Ginny, have you seen Harry anywhere?" Ron asked quite suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"I mean, he hasn't been up to see Hermione once today," Ron said concerned.

"I have no idea where he is." Ginny shrugged, shivering slightly.

"What?" Ron asked.

"I've just been having really weird dreams...Harry and Malfoy are in them, and there's this Dragon, and I keep on throwing myself at Ma...Never mind," Ginny stopped herself. "It's just a really bizarre, really revolting dream...But Harry's missing? Do you want me to go find him?"

"No, it's alright." Ron sighed. "I just thought he'd of heard the news by now."

"Yeah." Ginny nodded. "What exactly is happening to Hermione?"

"Something is attacking her mind," Ron said. "That's what Madam Pomfrey says anyway."

"Oh God!" Ginny sputtered.

"Yeah." Ron nodded. "Every time she wakes up, she starts shouting out in pain until she becomes unconscious again."

"Do you think Zabini, Parkinson and Bulstrode are going to get in trouble for this?" Ginny asked slowly.

"They better," Ron growled.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open, and she let out a groan.

"Hermione?" Ron asked.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, and as she did so, Ginny let out a horrid shriek of pain.

---

Draco collapsed himself on the couch in the room of magic, bewildered at everything he had just seen. He felt Harry's green eyes watching him.

"Malfoy," Harry said softly.

Draco felt a shiver go down his spine and a slight tinge of annoyance. He looked up at the ceiling, holding his breath, forcing himself to think about nothing.

"Malfoy," Harry repeated.

Draco shut his eyes, Harry's voice sounded so perturbed, so full of fear, it was almost nauseating. He didn't want to know what Harry thought of him, now that Harry knew about everything he had been trying to forget for years.

He didn't want Harry to hate him anymore, and that thought was an even more sickening.

"Hello!" Harry shouted at him.

Draco opened his eyes, and was staring straight at an upset looking Harry.

"Hmm," Draco mumbled, not trusting himself with words.

Harry's glasses were slightly askew, and falling towards the end of his nose. He had never seen Harry with his glasses off, Draco thought, wondering what a difference it would make.

_No_, Draco told himself. _What do I care? I don't. Why is he looking at me like that?_

"Malfoy." Harry said.

Draco snapped out of his thoughts, realizing he hadn't heard anything that Harry had said.

"Shit, Potter!" Draco said. "What do you want from me?"

Harry's face fell, and he looked at him quizzically.

"Why don't you go bugger off?"

Draco desperately wanted Harry away, so he wouldn't have to look at him. For some reason, Draco found that Harry's presence was making him oddly distracted in ways that he didn't want to believe were possible, especially for a Malfoy.

Instead of leaving, Harry just stood there, staring at him intently.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"I have no idea," Draco said honestly.

"Do you want to talk about what you saw?" Harry asked.

"No," Draco shook his head. "And I don't feel much like talking about what you saw either."

Harry frowned.

"I don't remember much," Draco explained. "I've tried to shut it out of my mind."

"I can understand that," Harry said, nodding. "But how could you do that to that Muggle?"

"Potter, the real question is, how could I have not done that to that Muggle?"

---

Harry and Draco had just arrived back in the castle.

Harry took a deep breath as he tried to ground himself. He couldn't believe Draco had done those things, that those things had been done to him.

He turned to see Draco collapsing onto the couch, looking distracted.

"Malfoy," Harry said softly.

Harry saw him give a slight shiver, probably from the icy coldness of the room.

Draco was looking up at the ceiling, avoiding he's gaze.

"Malfoy," Harry repeated, trying to get him to look at him.

Draco's eyes shut as if he was frustrated.

Harry wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Hello!" Harry shouted at him.

Draco's eyes opened, landing straight on his face.

"Hmm," Draco mumbled.

"What happened in that room?" Harry asked. He wasn't sure if he was asking about his own room where he had witnessed Malfoy's memories, or the room Draco had stepped into.

Draco didn't answer him, and Harry saw his eyes searching him.

_What's he doing? _Harry thought.

"Malfoy." Harry said.

Draco snapped to attention.

"Shit, Potter!" Draco said. "What do you want from me?"

Harry's face fell, and he looked at him quizzically. Why was Malfoy being so weird?

"Why don't you go bugger off?" Draco said.

Harry didn't move, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"I have no idea," Draco said.

"Do you want to talk about what you saw?" Harry asked, wondering if the memories were bothering Draco as much as himself.

"No," Draco shook his head. "And I don't feel much like talking about what you saw either."

Harry frowned, Draco was incredibly stubborn.

"I don't remember much," Draco explained. "I've tried to shut it out of my mind."

"I can understand that," Harry said, nodding. "But how could you do that to that Muggle?"

"Potter, the real question is, how could I have not done that to that Muggle?"

Harry's jaw dropped open in horror. He couldn't believe that Draco had just said that, and he didn't understand why,

Draco shook his head, looking almost apologetic.

"They would have killed her," Draco muttered.

Harry felt the pain in his voice as he said it.

"Nearly did too, afterwards," Draco said. "But luckily my father allowed me to dispose of her as I saw fit."

"What did you do?" Harry asked his mind racing.

"I let her go," Draco said softly.

"You did?" Harry asked.

"Of course! What else would I do with her? Make her stick around as my girlfriend?" Draco said, his cheeks turning slightly red.

_Is he blushing? _Harry thought, noticing how oddly pale he looked with color in his face.

Draco looked away.

"We shouldn't have called the Dragon," Draco said suddenly.

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"We don't even know how many level's there's going to be, we could have figured that out!" Draco said.

To Harry it seemed like Draco was beating himself up about it more then he should have.

"Not much we can do about it now," Harry said, concerned.

"It was moronic," Draco sputtered. "I just wanted out of that level."

"I know." Harry nodded. "Ginny was driving me insane too."

Harry paused, having said that, he realized it was completely true. What did that mean exactly?

Draco's eyes were calculating as well, but Harry still couldn't figure out what he was thinking about.

"I wasn't talking about Weasel," Draco muttered, then quickly said, "Well, sort of."

"What?" Harry asked. "Who were you talking about?"

Draco darted his gaze, "Never mind." Draco nodded, and then looked at him as if resolved. "I thought you liked her."

"I did...do," Harry corrected himself.

Draco raised an eye at him.

Harry got concerned, _if he didn't like Ginny, and he wasn't jealous of her... _Harry shook his head, that thought was too absurd, even for his own head.

"Did?" Draco asked.

Harry shifted, "I dunno, maybe I'm over her. So what? What's the big deal?"

Draco paused for a moment, and then looked away.

_Why does he keep doing that?_

"No big deal." Draco shrugged. "Did you two ever have sex?"

Harry sputtered. "Excuse me?"

Draco stared at him blank faced.

"You heard me," Draco said.

"I'm not telling you!" Harry said, going slightly red from embarrassment.

"Why?" Draco asked, clearly enjoying teasing him. "Because you haven't or because you have?"

"I-I...What kind of question is that?" Harry said.

"I'm curious," Draco muttered.

"About what?"

"I'm curious to know if you're as easy as everyone says you are."

"They do not say that!" Harry chocked out.

"You clearly haven't heard all the Slytherin's talk about you," Draco said.

"Well, what about you?" Harry countered. "You've had sex right? After all, you've dating like every girl in this school."

"Have not!" Draco growled.

"Every girl drools over you," Harry muttered.

"Who can blame them?" Draco said.

Harry looked horrified and Draco grinned.

"I am a handsome bloke after all."

"Come off it," Harry rolled his eyes.

Draco gave a smug look, "You're avoiding the question now."

"What question?" Harry said, trying to keep his face blank, but failing. "You have to tell me first."

Draco rolled his eyes but shrugged. "Fine."

Harry waited for him to answer.

"No, I haven't had sex. Nor have I dated every girl in the school. In fact I've dated a whole two," Draco said, raising up two fingers.

"Really?" Harry said, shocked.

"Yes, really." Draco folded his arms across his chest. "How about yourself?"

Harry sighed. "No, I've never had sex."

"Interesting," Draco said.

Harry waited for him to say more, but he didn't.

"Well..." Harry said, unsure of what to say.

"We have to find out who that Hector Collins guy is for the next level," Draco said.

"Right," Harry said. "What time is it?"

"Just after six," Draco answered.

"Then let's go do that now," Harry suggested. "Before we get swamped with homework again."

"Sounds good," Draco said, getting up from the couch.

---

The two made their way out of the room, and towards the library, but as they approached Harry heard someone calling his name, it was Parvati.

"Harry!" she was running to catch up with him.

The two boys stopped as she approached. She came to a halt, and realized Draco was with him; she frowned, and then turned back to Harry, who just shrugged.

"Harry, it's Hermione," she breathed heavily, dismissing Malfoy for a moment. "She's in the hospital wing, Parkinson, Zabini and Bulstrode put a curse on her. Ron's been looking everywhere for you."


	15. Personal Decisions

Harry glanced between Draco and Parvati.

"Another time then, Potter," Draco said quickly. "Tomorrow morning."

Harry nodded as Draco took off and he turned to Parvati.

"What happened?"

---

As Ginny screamed out in pain, so did Hermione.

Ginny collapsed to the floor, clutching onto her head; and Ron took a hold of Hermione again. She flung against the bed violently as his sister crashed into a tin tray of medical supplies, knocking over vials of potions. They _clunked _to the floor but stayed whole.

The screaming came to a sudden stop, and Ron let go of Hermione's hand and rushed to Ginny.

"Gin," Ron said.

She slowly sat up, placing a hand gingerly to her head where it had collided with the tray.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

"I...heard screaming," Ginny whispered. "I felt what Hermione was feeling."

"Is it awful?" Ron asked his eyes wide.

"More then awful," Ginny lamented as she stared at him assured of her fears. "Ron, I think you might be making it worse."

"What?" he asked appalled and confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You haven't been researching that prophecy; you haven't been trying to master your powers. What if by accident you're making the pain worse for her?"

"I'd know wouldn't I?"

He glanced at Hermione slowly and then turned back to his sister who shook her head.

"No, you wouldn't. It's a subconscious thing, and you don't know how to control it so it's going to control you."

"I'm not leaving her," Ron said determinedly.

Ginny sighed. "You could be hurting her more then you realize."

"I'm not hurting her!" Ron shouted.

Madam Pomfrey hurried into the room, looking around for the source of the loud bangs.

"Mr. Weasley, please control yourself; I have patients who need to be resting."

"Sorry," Ron muttered.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "I'm going to need you two to leave the wing for tonight; you may see her again in the morning."

"But-" Ron protested.

Madam Pomfrey wouldn't take no for an answer, and so a few minutes later, Ron and Ginny were walking out of the Hospital Wing.

"Ron, I really think you should consider looking into your powers, at least until Hermione gets better," Ginny suggested.

Ron didn't answer. He was terrified at the thought that he might be making Hermione's condition worse.

"You will, won't you?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, I will," Ron said in a hushed tone.

Ginny smiled. "Good."

From around the corner, Harry appeared looking exhausted and worried. His hair was disheveled, and his robes wrinkled, looking as if he hadn't slept in a long time.

"Ron! What's going on? What happened?" Harry said exasperated. "What did they do to Hermione?"

"They cursed her. She's really bad off," Ron muttered. "She's been unconscious since this morning, and every time she wakes up she's being attack by something in her head."

"Can I go in to see her?"

"Madam Pomfrey kicked us out," Ginny piped up.

Ron noticed Harry hadn't once looked at his sister, and still didn't, even though she was addressing him.

"Harry, mate, where've you been?" Ron asked.

"I-I...I was working on something," Harry muttered lamely.

Ron knew he was lying, and worse still, Harry wouldn't look him in the eye now.

"Right," he said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Well, we're allowed back into the wing in the morning."

"Is she going to be alright?" Harry asked.

"Of course! She'll be fine," Ginny assured, as Ron faltered.

"Ron, mate, are _you_ okay?" Harry asked.

"No." He shook his head. "I don't know what I can do for her, and as it turns out I think I'm making things worse!"

"I'm sure you're not making things worse," Harry supported.

Ron stayed quiet; he had completely forgotten that Harry didn't know about the prophecy. _How had that happen? _Ron questioned. _Since when have we been keeping secrets from each other? _

"Let's get back to our common room," Ginny insisted. "You both look like you could use some sleep."

Both boys agreed and headed upstairs.

---

Ron immediately rushed off to his dormitory, leaving Harry and Ginny alone. Harry shifted uncomfortably from heel to heel as she watched him with large amber eyes.

"Harry," Ginny said concerned. "Are you quite alright? You look awful."

"I'm fine," Harry dismissed. "I just have a lot to deal with."

"I know." Ginny nodded. "Harry, do you think we could talk?"

Harry stared, taken aback, that was certainly the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. She watched him hopeful, and he avoided her eyes, looking around the room. His eyes settled on a head of blonde hair sitting on the couch with his back to him. He seemed to be motionless as if listening for something.

"Well, I'm actually really tired," Harry said, faking a yawn. "But, we should talk, another time."

Ginny looked down.

"That sounds good," Ginny said.

Harry looked over to see that Malfoy was standing up from a couch. He watched him move towards the stairs for the boy's dormitory. Draco paused a moment at the bottom, turned to him and gave him a smug grin that clearly was mocking him for talking to Ginny, and then he turned back around and left the room.

He turned to Ginny, wanting to confront Malfoy for the look.

"Well, night," Harry told her, and started towards the stairs.

"Harry," Ginny called after him.

He stopped, hearing her footsteps trail quickly after him.

"Ron's really worried about you, and so am I. Maybe you should take a break from whatever you're doing. It might do you some good."

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything; he didn't want to make a promise he couldn't keep.

He made his way up to his room, and found that Draco had already pulled his curtains closed.

He sighed exasperated and started to get ready for bed. Just as he was pulling off his shirt Dean came through the main door. He was looking incredibly pissed as he entered and was heading straight for him.

"Harry!" Dean bellowed at him.

Harry frowned, tugging off the rest of his shirt. "What?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Dean bellowed. "Do you even realize what you're doing to her?"

"Dean, what are you talking about?" Harry asked.

The fair-haired boy's skin was in a sweat, he had clearly just come up from Quidditch try-outs, which happened to be that week. Ron must not have gone either.

"She thinks you hate her!" Dean shouted.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, slightly confused.

"Of course Ginny! Who the bloody else would I be talking about?" Dean hissed. "She loves you, as much as I hate to admit it, but she does! She doesn't love me, she loves you! And you're treating her like shit."

"Go away, Dean!" Harry muttered. He didn't need relationship advice from Dean.

"Not until you stop being such a jerk and-"

Harry pulled the curtains closed around his bed, shutting him out. He groaned loudly and fell back into his bed.

He was avoiding dealing with anything; maybe he had been hanging out with Draco too long, but all Harry knew was he was fed up with everyone being so damn concerned for him, concerned for what he did in his own time.

_What does it concern them? _Harry groaned again. Ron was his best mate, and he couldn't even tell him what he had been up too. The only things he wanted to deal with were the Dragon Games, and oddly enough, Malfoy.

Harry gave a great sigh; he had another problem that was facing him tomorrow morning. Was he going to be doing research with Draco, or visiting Hermione in the hospital wing? He had never thought it would come down to that sort of choice.

What would Ron say if he didn't stop in? It wasn't like Harry was any help being in the wing with her anyway. And he didn't want to run into Ginny or Dean again, he didn't want to deal with that drama.

---

Draco awoke the next morning at seven, Harry's bed curtains were already wide open and Harry was nowhere to be found.

At breakfast, Harry wasn't there either, but he kept looking for him. He marched down the halls, and even tried the Room of Magic, but only found that empty.

Last night, he had left Harry to hang out with his friends - after all that was part of the plan.

_You can't occupy Harry's life constantly_, he told himself. _That's why I was avoiding him. _

However, he knew that wasn't true; he had been avoiding Harry because the impossible notion of being attracted to him, let alone a guy, was almost too much for him to handle.

Not only were there the unwritten pureblood laws to abide by, but there were also the Malfoy Codes that he would be violating if this happened to be true. No, worse than that, if he accepted that he could be, by some slim not likely almost invisible chance actually interested in Harry-Bloody-Potter, it would be the end of his dignity and Slytherin image as he knew it.

Last night Ginny had been talking to Harry.

Actually, it had been Harry talking to Ginny. And in the back of Draco's mind he knew exactly what he was feeling, but he refused to put the J word to it.

_I am not jealous of Weasel. _

Last night, Harry's eyes had followed him up the stairs. He had followed him up to the dormitory almost immediately, Draco remembered, and Dean's words to Harry about Ginny herself, and how Harry had shut Dean off. All of that kept replaying in his mind as he watched for Harry in the crowd.

Harry didn't come to breakfast, so finally he gave up and headed towards the library. As he entered, he was greatly surprised to see Harry sitting at a table, books surrounding him.

Harry was in Muggle clothing, black jeans and a tight blue shirt, it was clearly new, because Draco had never seen him wear clothes that fit before, and even Harry's hair was neater then usual.

He too was wearing Muggle clothing: a silk black button up shirt and straight-legged black suit pants. It was one of his favorite outfits that he only wore when he was trying to impress. Again, Draco wouldn't say allowed or admit to himself who he wanted to impress, but he knew.

_I can yell at myself later when I realize what the hell I'm doing,_ Draco had told himself that morning.

Harry looked up at him.

"About time you got here," Harry said.

"Find anything?" Draco asked, his eyes wandering down Harry. He had the built of a Seeker, small but muscular, thin and perfectly tanned. His scent had always reminded him of the Quidditch field: fresh grass and oddly enough, some sort of snicker-doodle cookie. He snapped his eyes up in self-control and focused them on the boy's face.

"No, have a seat," Harry said, indicating a chair next to him.

He glanced at it, his stomach was doing circles and he knew he couldn't - or better yet, wouldn't let himself sit next to Harry. So he sat across from him, and grabbed a book from the stack.

Opening it, he was immediately distracted by Harry who was reaching for another book. Harry flipped it to the books glossary and ran his index finger down the page, and he just watched him. Harry had great concentration, but today, Draco could tell something was distracting him. Before he could ask what it was, Harry looked up at him.

"Did you hear about Hermione?" Harry asked, and then he frowned. "Are you even reading?"

Draco quickly startled. "Yeah, I'm reading," he indicated his book.

"Upside down?"

He quickly looked at his book, and he felt his face flush red as it was in fact, upside down. He didn't look at Harry, and as he flipped the book around he muttered, "That's how you have to read that page."

Harry nodded seeming to believe him. "Have you heard about Hermione then?"

He shook his head, he hadn't. "What about her?"

"She's in the hospital wing," Harry muttered.

"Why?" he asked more for Harry's benefit then his own, because he couldn't entirely bring himself to care about Granger.

"Someone put a curse on her," Harry said. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it?"

He frowned, Harry was accusing him. He wanted to retort sarcastically and claim it all, but a lump in his throat stopped him.

"I heard Pansy talking about something," he admitted. He yelled at himself silently, knowing perfectly well Harry wasn't going to like that answer either.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry demanded, his green eyes shinning with hurt.

He hadn't expected to be so affected by Harry's emotions. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to avoid his eyes that seemed to read his very core.

"I guess I didn't think she'd actually do it," he said. "Pansy is a lot of talk."

If Pansy really had done the curse, then had she really written to his father?

Harry just nodded, but he had idea on what the raven-haired boy was thinking. Harry was wishing he could trust him, he was wishing he would tell him what was going on. And for one almost unthinkable minute, Draco almost started to tell him everything. He had opened his mouth and everything, and Harry was now staring at him confused.

"You don't believe me?" Draco cocked an eye, keeping his cool composure.

"I believe you," Harry muttered.

"Oh really scar-head?" he said icily, but found that the insult was forced and unnatural.

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes, "That's really original, Malfoy."

He didn't know how to answer, so instead he stayed oddly quiet, all the while his head spinning and reeling. Why were insults lacking? Why couldn't he stop looking at those eyes, that body...Why was he so bloody curious to find out more about the boy?

Harry was just staring at him; his green eyes full of distrust, full of that old look of hate. Draco wanted that to stop, he wanted to...dare he say it...hold him, telling him everything was going to turn out alright, even if he had to lie.

"Harry, I think I'm going to..."

His mind was racing, and he wasn't even quite sure if he had just called Harry by his first name.

"Going to what?" Harry asked his eyes boring into his.

_Going to kiss you. _"I'm going to go."

"What? Why?"

"You don't really want me to stay? Do you?"

"What does that mean?" Harry asked.

He held his breath. "Maybe we can handle this another time."

"We have time now," Harry said, frowning even more. "What the hell is going on?"

_I think I find you…sexy? _He grabbed a book.

"Let's just work," he muttered. He stared determinedly down at the page, forcing himself not to be concerned with how he was probably being perceived by Harry at that moment.

Harry's eyes lingered concerned on him for a moment, before they finally turned back to his own book.

"I forgive you," Harry said in a barely auditable whisper.

Draco looked up, but Harry was staring very intently at a book. He forgave him for what? For not telling him about Pansy? Harry didn't look up again, and finally Draco gave up, and flipped to the glossary of his book.

"I wasn't apologizing."

Harry's eyes looked up for a moment, and he could barely make out a grin of some sort come across those lips. But he couldn't tell if it was a triumphant, or mocking, or just generally happy grin. But he refused to take a closer look.

An hour passed by of silence and book pages being turned, but not a word or glance was exchanged.

"Oh!" said Harry broke the air, excitement in his voice. "I found something!"

The tension had vanished by this new bit of excitement.

He looked over to see Harry was holding out a book for him to look at, and there on the page, was Hector's name and a tiny three-line paragraph about him.

_Hector Collins the Fifth_

_Born 405 BC to Hector Collins the Fourth and Janice Collins. A heroic magician who participated in the Golden War. Died 342 BC, age 63._

"Bloody hell, Golden War?" he muttered.

"Huh?" Harry asked.

"It's the war that created the Dragon Games," he muttered.

He stood up and started going over volumes of books along the shelves, looking for one on the Golden War. Harry followed him.

"What are you looking for?"

"The Golden War," Draco said.

"Here!" Harry said, pulling out a book.

Harry pulled it open, and began to race through the table of contents until he found Hector's name.

"Page 235," Harry said aloud.

He stood back as Harry flipped to the page and started to read. Harry's hair fell into his face as he read, and Harry brushed it away carelessly. He leaned closer to read.

"Draco," Harry said. He startled. "You're in my light."

"Oh," he said, taken aback. Harry had just called him Draco again, only this time, he didn't care.

Harry was looking at him, and not the book, and Draco had an overwhelming urge to kiss him.

There was an argument in his head, that last only a few seconds, but to the former Slytherin, it seemed like a lifetime. The argument went something like this:

_He's Potter._

_That hair...that smile..._

_He's a guy._

_Those eyes..._

_He's Potter! He's a guy!_

_He's actually really good looking._

_I'm a Malfoy._

_I'm not Gay._

_Malfoy's get what they want._

_Do I really want him?_

_Oh bloody fucking hell, I do._

Draco, somehow deciding against everything he had ever known, stepped closer to Harry, but very cautiously. He didn't want to scare Harry away, and so far Harry didn't say anything. He got closer, and soon their bodies were practically touching. He could feel the heat between them, and Harry's breath against his skin, but Harry still didn't say or do much of anything.

He almost asked, '_Is this too close?'_ But immediately realized he didn't want to know the answer.

He tilted up his head, leaning it towards Harry's, waiting for their lips to touch. Everything seemed to hold still, nothing moved, nothing made a noise, until...

"What are you two doing?"

He jumped, and Harry moved back a little.

He turned awkwardly to see who had spoken and found the little Ginny Weasley staring at them. He didn't know what it had looked like they were doing, but he was pretty sure it didn't look like they were reading.

Both boys moved farther apart, and Harry uncomfortably held the book.

"We were, ah, trying to figure this out…" Harry said. "I think." Draco heard Harry whisper.

"Ron sent me to look for you," Ginny said, she clearly didn't suspect anything to be going on. "He said you'd probably want to see Hermione before she wasn't allowed to have any more visitors for the day."

"Oh, erm." Harry was flustered. "Yeah, is Ron, erm with her now?"

"No," Ginny shook her head.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Oh," Ginny frowned; she hadn't expected that question from Harry. "Well, you know Ron, he does weird things...And he keeps freaking out when he sees her, so Madam Pomfrey finally kicked him out."

Draco could tell she was lying, but Harry seemed to believe her. Were Weasel and his sister keeping secrets from Harry? He felt a rush of panic as this notion hit him. Harry _had_ to keep his friends updated, and vice versa, that was part of the plan.

"I should go up there," Harry said to him.

He quickly nodded; maybe Ginny was just lying for his benefit and Harry knew everything after all.

Harry's eyes met his for a second and then Harry immediately tore his away.

He cursed Ginny silently as the two walked away. He had been so close to figuring out what was going on between Harry and himself, or at least close to actually doing something about it. Now he didn't have a clue about what was going through Harry's head, and the only way he'd be able to find out would be to start the next level of the games.

_The sooner the better, _he thought. He wanted to know what Harry was thinking, but most of all he wanted to have that kiss.

---

Harry may have been heading to the hospital wing to visit Hermione, but his thoughts were anywhere but there.

He was sure Draco was about to kiss him in the library. He was sure that Draco had been watching him, checking him out even. And he was sure that he hadn't tried to stop him.

Was this some sort of twisted idea Draco had schemed up to mess with Harry's mind? And what exactly did he feel about Draco kissing him?

Ginny may have been talking to him, but he wouldn't have known, because all he could think about was what she had interrupted.

Did he like Draco? He hadn't really thought about it. Even if he liked Draco, he certainly wasn't interested in men, was he? He had liked Ginny, he even liked Cho. But he had never had feelings for any guy before.

A million more questions zoomed through hid head, and none of them had answers, because he couldn't stop long enough to think.

Would it be wrong to like Draco? What would Ron say? Ginny say? Hermione say? All these questions, nagging at him.

He opened the door to the hospital wing, and Ginny wasn't with him any longer, she must have left him a while back.

Hermione was unconscious, bruises around her wrists from where Ron and Madam Pomfrey had held her down.

He sighed as he stood over her bed.

"Hermione, why is this happening?"


	16. Dilapidated Diminutive Pool

Harry's visit to Hermione was not very long, mostly because Harry couldn't stop thinking about Draco and the almost kiss. His short visit had let Harry come to the decision that he wanted answers immediately.

He hunted Draco down, and found him in the dormitory.

Draco didn't act different, he didn't say anything odd, which would have been easier for Harry to handle. In fact, Draco acting like nothing had happened was the last thing Harry had expected.

The only indication that Harry got that Draco even remembered the moment in the Library was when he asked, "Want to start to next level?"

Harry nodded, and Draco left the room. Harry quickly got dressed into the Blue Robes and headed towards the room of magic.

Draco was already there, sitting on the ground in his robes, his face was blank.

Harry sat down across from him, their knees nearly touching.

The two concentrated and as they reached the room Harry clenched his teeth tight, the dragon screeched, and his chest wound was opened again.

Harry closed his eyes from the pain, and then opened them again to see Draco staring at him.

Both opened their mouths at the same time to ask a question, Harry grinned, at least he knew Draco was as keen for answers as he was.

Draco closed his mouth and raised an eyebrow, letting Harry speak first; this was a very unusually kind gesture for Draco to make.

The mass of questions entered his head again, and he decided on the first question that came up.

"Were you going to kiss me earlier?" Harry asked.

Draco smirked, and then faltered, "I'd say something really sarcastic, but this truth magic is getting to my head. So...yes."

"Oh," Harry muttered.

"Would you have wanted to kiss me earlier?" Draco asked.

Harry didn't know the answer to that question, "I dunno."

"Oh," Draco said.

_Oh indeed_, Harry thought.

"Do you like me, like me? Oh God, that's so first grade," Harry cursed himself for his choice of words.

Draco grinned, "I guess I do."

Harry's stomach turned, Draco Malfoy really did have a crush on him.

"How do you feel about that?" Draco asked, sounding like one of those psychologists.

"I...I-I feel surprised and flattered," Harry said, and then scrunched up his nose.

_Did I really just say flattered?_

"Flattered, Potter, that's not quite what I expected."

Draco smiled, and Harry's stomach nearly gave out, Draco's smile was nothing like Harry had ever imagined it could be like, it was captivating and awe inspiring all at once.

"What did you expect?" Harry asked.

"I need to watch what I say," Draco said under his breath. "Well, I guess I expected you to either one, never speak to me again, and avoid me at all costs, or well, that's all I expected really."

Harry frowned.

"What I had hoped for is something quite the opposite," Draco said as an after thought.

Harry didn't know what to say.

"Would you stop me if I tried to kiss you?" Draco asked, and Harry watched as he held his breath is suspense.

_Would I?_ Harry asked himself. "If you tried to right now, yes. Because I don't know how I feel about this yet."

"Not now," Draco repeated. "Right, I think I can handle that."

Harry nodded, as a door slid open.

Draco grinned at Harry.

"Come along then," Draco said.

Draco was oddly chipper; was it because Harry had not completely put him off?

They went through the door, and they were in a small forest. A bright light was coming towards them, and as it got closer Harry could make out that it was a unicorn.

The unicorn stopped in front of them, staring fixedly at Draco.

"What do you think we do?" Harry whispered to Draco.

When Draco didn't answer him, Harry looked at him, and found Draco was staring wide-eyed at the beautiful creature.

"It's so pretty," Draco said in a very robot way.

"Draco are you okay?" Harry asked. Since he hadn't told him off earlier for calling him Draco, Harry felt it safe to do so, especially because he had called him Harry.

"I think I've lost myself in its beauty…" Draco trailed off.

"What?" Harry asked concerned and confused, staring at Draco.

Draco turned to him, with a huge grin, and then started laughing.

Harry frowned confused, and then recalled the book. The book that was published by the Lockhart's followers.

Harry started laughing as well.

"Oh I had to, I'm sorry!" Draco said trying to catch his breath. "The look on your face! God, Harry, I thought you were going to have a heart attack."

"Shut it," Harry said jokingly.

"Desist," the Unicorn spoke. Harry and Draco jumped and stared at it. It had a soft yet commanding voice.

"I trust you did not daily in your diligent pursuits of Collins the Fifth, so I will now demand that that you deliver your dignified answers as I dictate to you your deciding questions. To your right direction, there is a dilapidated diminutive pool of dingy blood. My disowned blood. Decide among your duo how to divide yourselves and do not dally. One must directly decline the questions and be forced to digress from our conversation and sit dutifully by as the other disburses deadly knowledge of Hector. If discontent I feel from a disarray answer, the disowned will drink the blood and be distrustfully bound forever. My blood is designed to destroy free will, and if you did get any wrong, you'll no doubt be devoured by the demons of the deep, but do not despair for if you did your job well, you will be lead directly from here, only your delirious friend will lead to the doorway."

Harry and Draco stared at the unicorn for a moment.

"I don't think I've heard so many d words used in one sentence before," Draco muttered.

"Did you get that?" Harry frowned.

"I believe so," Draco nodded. "I think one of us has to answer questions as the other is forced to sit by the pool of blood, and if they give the wrong answers then the other has to drink the blood. It's unicorn blood, and if one of us drinks it then they will lead the other to death, and probably go to their own death."

"Well, then, how do you-" Harry started.

"I can't believe I didn't even look at that goddamn book!" Draco moaned.

Harry then realized he was the only one who had read the book. He couldn't believe they had let themselves get so caught up in their personal lives that they forget what they really needed to know.

Then again, he could believe it, but it was really stupid of them.

"Do you think you know everything?" Draco asked him.

"I..." Harry paused, it would be Draco's life on the line and he knew what Draco didn't want to hear. "I know it pretty well."

Draco cursed. "Don't screw up, okay?" He paused. "Actually, if you think you get any of those questions wrong don't follow me. Got it? I know you said you wouldn't leave me behind, but you wouldn't want me to lead you too your death now would you?"

"No," Harry muttered.

"So answer them right so I don't have to worry, okay?"

Harry just nodded in reassurance.

Draco sighed, and then identified his right, and walked off.

"Alright," Harry said to the Unicorn. "We're ready."

"Delightful. I have a dozen questions for you."

Harry nodded. _A dozen? _Could he even remember that many facts?

"Firstly who were Hector's devoted parents?"

Harry knew this one, "Hector the fourth and Janice."

"Second, when did Collins desire to become a militant dictator?"

Harry paused, trying to remember, "he was twenty-one."

The Unicorn didn't say anything for a moment, and Harry looked over to see if he could see Draco in the distance, he couldn't.

"Thirdly, who was Hector's dutiful partner in the first Dragon Game?"

"His wife, Desiree Collins."

The questions went on, and Harry felt his was doing fairly well; finally, he had only one question left.

"The twelfth, would Hector Collin's the Fifth have wanted you to play this game if he were alive today?"

Harry paused, an opinion question, or maybe there was a real answer, either way he didn't really know what to say.

_Shit_. Harry thought wildly, if he guessed and was wrong then Draco would be in great danger, and maybe Draco was already in danger, he had no idea whether or not he had answered all the questions right or not.

"Yes, because he created it for trust," Harry said unsurely.

"You have great depth in your decisive answers. Now you must descend to the blood, and depend on your decisions that you did this right."

Harry nodded, remembering what Draco had told him. He had no idea if his answers were right; could he trust Draco to lead him out of here?

Harry found Draco by a small pool of metallic blood.

"Draco?" Harry asked.

Draco turned to him, "Come along."

Harry couldn't tell if he had drunken any of the blood, but Harry wasn't about to leave him behind, especially because he had no idea which direction the right way might be.

His only choice was to trust he had done this right. He followed Draco. Every turn they made Harry expected something to jump out, and every tree they ducked under Harry expected something to pull him up.

Every step he made he felt he was walking to his death, and Draco wouldn't answer any of his questions, he'd just say come along.

"We're approaching," Draco told him as they were going under a thickly branched tree.

Harry surveyed the land as they went forward, and to his relief he saw the golden doorway.

---

Harry and Draco had landed back in the room of magic.

"Harry, we really need to start thinking before we leap," Draco said, as he stood up.

"What an idea," Harry said.

"No, I'm serious, that was really close, I could hear your voice and the questions and everything but I had no idea what the answers were."

Harry sighed, exhausted.

"And as happy I am that you didn't leave me," Draco said, giving him a bit of a glare. "You still should have! You bloody didn't know if I was going to kill you! One of us at least, needs to get to the end. I'd prefer both of us, but if that's not possible then we'll just have to deal."

"Draco, you know damn well I won't leave you!" Harry shot at him. "To die…" Harry added almost not quickly enough

Draco eyed him, "I appreciate that Harry, but that's not how we're going to win this thing."

Harry shrugged.

"You know, I better go check on Ron," Harry said suddenly.

Harry didn't actually want to leave, but he felt he had had enough excitement for one day.

"Alright," Draco said. "Shall we do this again next week?"

"I guess we shall," Harry said mocking him.

Draco grinned, "don't think that just because I find you hott means you can get away with mocking me."

Harry paused; the word hott coming from Draco describing him, quite blew him away.

"You going to leave now?" Draco asked.

Harry realized he was standing there, staring at him.

"Right," Harry said. "Bye."

Harry left the room.

He couldn't believe that Draco was embracing his feelings for him like that. Draco had always had a thing for the ladies. Maybe, it was just in Draco's nature; maybe, once he had decided on something, he went at it with no restraints. Harry wished he had the ability to let go of his emotions like that.

When Harry got into the empty entrance hall, he was quite sure that he would be able to make it up to his room and fall asleep before nine that night. But that's not what happened, because as he passed by a small empty class room, he saw a small figure staring at him from inside. The creature was smiling up at him as he entered and found it to be Dobby the House Elf.

"Dobby?" Harry asked.

"Harry Potter sir!" Dobby squeaked in excitement.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"Kreacher and I have much to tell you, sir!" Dobby said.

Harry then spotted Kreacher behind Dobby, glaring at Harry in a hateful way.

"Sir will be very pleased," Kreacher muttered. "Which is a shame."

"We did as you said to Harry Potter!" Dobby said.

Harry frowned; he didn't remember telling them anything, "What did I say to do?"

"You said, you said that Kreacher and I should tail Mr. Malfoy, sir. You said to keep tabs on his where-abouts. And we did! But we are greatly ashamed," Dobby said bowing his head.

"Yes, Kreacher is very shamed," Kreacher muttered, not meaning it.

"Why?" Harry asked, he had completely forgotten about sending Kreacher and Dobby after Draco.

"Because Dobby and Kreacher sir have not reported to you regularly as you asked, sir!" Dobby sobbed.

"It's okay Dobby!" Harry assured.

"I'm so very sorry sir, we meant to find you. Dobby was sure we would find you at Godric's Hollow sir, that's where Mr. Lupin, said you'd be. But that's before you changed your mind; Dobby didn't know you had come back to Hogwarts until two days ago," Dobby went on.

"Yeah, I changed my mind," Harry said.

"You were not in my home when we came there either, sir," Kreacher said. "There was a man, a disgusting fowl Mudblood in my mistress's house! He was defiling the Black name, not that it has much good left in it."

"Kreacher was awful to him, sir!" Dobby explained. "He scared the man half to death talking about death and You-Know-Who, sir."

"He was alone in your house, sir, in my mistress' house, sir. I couldn't believe that you were invite him to stay, so he must have been an intruder," Kreacher said.

"He was a guest! You didn't scare him out, did you?" Harry asked, frightfully recalling a recent Daily Prophet about a man who had died at Lupin's alleged safe house.

"Dobby didn't, Harry Potter! Dobby tried to keep him calm, but Kreacher had frightened him, he left the house before we did!"

"He scampered off like the coward he was, sir," Kreacher said.

"Oh no," Harry muttered, another death because he had screwed up.

"May Kreacher report to you our findings sir?" Kreacher was grinning now.

Harry eyed him, and then turned to Dobby who was frowning.

"Dobby can tell me," Harry said.

Kreacher grumbled.

"Oh thank you Harry Potter sir!" Dobby said eagerly. "But it's not a very happy tale to tell."

"Just go on, Dobby," Harry said.

"We followed Mr. Malfoy like you asked sir. It took us a while to find him because he had taken off," Dobby admitted. "But we found Mr. Malfoy with _Him_ sir, and Severus Snape." Dobby shuddered.

Harry thought back to the last of Draco's memories that he had seen; this must have been what Dobby and Kreacher had witnessed.

"They killed Mr. Dumbledore sir; they told him how they did it!" Dobby began to cry. "Then Mr. Malfoy...Mr. Malfoy said he'd come back here, come back here and deal with you!"

"Mr. Malfoy has come back to kill you, sir," Kreacher said.

Harry felt a sharp lump in his throat; it couldn't be true; Draco had specifically said he wasn't out to kill him. No, wait he had said he didn't want to kill him in the game.

_Oh God_. Harry felt sick.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked Dobby.

"Yes, Harry Potter sir, he told _Him_ that he had a plan that would take care of things for good," Dobby cried. "He's an awful boy! The way he laughed, sir, when he spoke of Mr. Albus Dumbledore, he was awful, sir."

Harry couldn't move, he couldn't speak.

Here he was throwing himself freely into a game that was surely going to get him killed, and he hadn't even once stopped to really think about what he was doing.

Did Draco really want him killed? Had that been the plan all along, or was Malfoy up to something even Voldemort didn't know about?

"Severus Snape said that Draco would have connections in Hogwarts, sir," Dobby continued. "That they would have a source to keep tabs on him."

_Connections? _Harry felt like someone had slapped him across the face. Well maybe that's how you're supposed to feel when the truth comes crashing down all at once.

Could the source possibly be Snape's wife? Or even the new Headmistress? Rosaria Snape had acted as if she had known Draco that first day in class, was that why?

_I'm so stupid! _Harry yelled at himself, he had let his guard down, and now he deserved the consequences.

"Harry Potter sir, I think you're in much danger!" Dobby said fearfully.

What was Draco not telling him? What more was he missing from this big picture?

Harry needed to know, and he needed to know now.

"I have to go, Dobby," Harry said through his teeth.

"Of course, sir," Dobby bowed.

"Thanks," Harry said, and quickly ran from the room.

He flew up the stairs and into the common room, Draco wasn't in there. He rushed to the Dormitory, and Draco wasn't there either. However, there was a letter on Harry's bed, with his name on the Envelope, a letter from the Angel of Reason.

"Screw you," Harry said aloud to the letter. At this moment he hated everything in association with Draco and the game.

He felt this way, because he was feeling used, used and betrayed. Harry was just a pawn in Draco's game, even if he found him attractive, Draco would still leave Harry to die.

Harry stormed down to the room of magic, slamming the door open, Draco jerked his head up. Draco was sitting at a desk and had been writing a letter.

"Get in the game, now."

---

_**Author's Message:**_

_**Hope you enjoyed, another chapter is coming soon.**_

**Other References:**

**1. The Unicorn's game is slightly based off a concept from "The 10th Kingdom" (T.V. Mini Series).**

**2. Also the Unicorn's monologue is roughly based off of V, from "V for Vendetta's" monologue of V words. It's not as cool as V for Vendetta but I liked the idea.**


	17. Confess

"In now!" Harry repeated after Draco didn't move.

"I have school tomorrow," Draco muttered.

"Does it look like I care, Malfoy? Now get in the fucking game!"

Harry sat on the ground, and a few short seconds later Draco joined him, eyeing him suspiciously. All the while Harry couldn't help but get more and more worked up, Draco was using him, making his fall for him, making him trust him, that 's what they wanted, Harry's trust, so that they could destroy him.

"This isn't really using your head, Harry," Draco muttered.

"Concentrate," Harry hissed.

Draco shut his mouth and closed his eyes.

Moments later, they were in the game, and the screech of the Dragon came, neither boys said much of anything as the wound on their chests became deeper.

"You're not going to ask anything," Harry told him, as they came to their feet. "You're going to answer all my questions, and you're not going to say a word."

Draco raised his eyebrows at Harry, but didn't say anything. Maybe he knew this had been coming.

"You said you didn't intend to hand me over to Voldemort, well, what do you plan on doing with me?"

Draco grinned, "Well, it's definitely not appropriate, if that's what you're thinking."

"Goddamn it! I mean, are you going to let someone else kill me?" Harry said angrily.

"No, I'm not going to let anyone kill you," Draco said. "Not if I can help it." Draco paused and then continued, "I'm not here for Voldemort, I'm here for myself; I want you to help me destroy him."

"Destroy Voldemort?"

"Yes," Draco nodded.

Harry certainly hadn't thought of this, Draco was here to destroy Voldemort?

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I'm weak, Harry, I don't like to come off as weak, plus I didn't trust you, and I didn't particularly like you, I was using you to benefit my cause, because I knew you would help if there was something in it for you."

Draco paused, and Harry still didn't really understand.

"I'm going to ask a question." Draco said quickly.

Harry knew this was indicated to be a question, "Alright."

"Would you like me to tell you everything once we get out of this level?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "Will you?"

"Yes," Draco rolled his eyes. "You always do that, you always ask a question after I offer something."

"Yeah, well, you told me I couldn't trust you," Harry said. "I'm not completely stupid, though it may seem it at times."

"You can trust me now," Draco muttered. He turned away from him and headed to a door that had just appeared, it was pouring out fog into the white room.

Harry stared after him, was Draco saying that because he had found a new fondness for him?

Harry stepped through the door and into a valley of thick silver fog.

"Draco?" Harry asked.

"Find the orange flags," the Dragon's voice called overhead.

"Harry?" Draco asked. "Can you see anything?"

"No," Harry said. "Where are you?"

"Apparently lost," Draco muttered.

"Keep talking," Harry called to him.

"Right, I'm surrounded by fog, but I suspect you are too, otherwise you'd be able to find me."

Harry felt something underneath his foot.

"Ouch!" Draco yelled. "That's my foot!"

"Sorry," Harry said, lifting up his foot. "How are we going to find the flags?"

"Squint?" Draco suggested.

"Stop being dumb," Harry hissed. "Take a hold of my shoulder or something."

"Alright," Draco said.

Harry felt Draco's hand take a hold of his upper arm, and Harry started to lead them around, after about ten minutes of searching, from the corner of his eye, Harry spotted something orange.

"Look," Harry said.

"Oh good," Draco said.

They came to the flag, and Draco picked it up. The fog vanished around them, and for a split second, Harry could see a flag off to their left, on a hill. A thick purple fog filled in around them.

"The other flag is to our right, in a cavern," Harry said, then frowned. That wasn't what he had intended to say, and that was not where the flag was.

"I don't believe you," Draco said, and Harry could detect Draco's own confusion at the end of his sentence.

Harry felt Draco let go of him

"I understand what's going on," Draco said.

_Take my shoulder _"Don't take my shoulder," Harry hissed. Something was messing with their words. After all, it wasn't hard enough for them to just have to find the flags blind, but now that had other factors to mess them up.

"No," Draco said, taking a hold of his shoulder again.

"We should keep moving until we don't know what's going on," Harry said. _Now that's brilliant._

"Okay," Draco said.

Whatever was going on was switching around their words, so what Harry had to do, was say the opposite of what he meant.

_The flag is to our right, _"The flag is to our right," Harry repeated what he said in his mind. Harry was now really confused, if that hadn't worked what were they going to do?

"You don't know where the flag is?" Draco asked. "You don't know what I mean."

"No, I don't know," Harry said, "Don't let me lead you."

"I won't," Draco said.

Harry started towards where he remember seeing the flag, and through the purple haze, he found the orange.

"Not there!" he said.

He picked it up and the purple fog faded away. No flags were in sight.

"That was crap," Draco muttered.

Harry smiled as a red fog filled in.

Suddenly the idea of Draco touching his shoulder pissed him off; the same thought must have run through Draco's mind because his hand immediately moved away.

In fact, Harry was starting to get upset that he was even here at all. He was feeling angry with Draco for being near him, and mad at the Dragon for telling him to find the flags. He was even mad at the flags for existing.

"I hate this," Draco said aloud.

"I hate this more," Harry argued.

"I hate these flags," Harry said.

"I hate that I agree with you!" Draco hissed.

Harry knew these feelings weren't real, or maybe deep down they were; but right now, the fog was spurring these feelings, and Harry couldn't bring himself to even care about finding the next flag.

"I hate this fog," Harry muttered.

"I hate the color purple," Draco answered back.

I hate, I hate, I hate. The two boys went on for a very long time; their list of hates growing from food to every person they had ever met.

"I hate Snape," Harry said.

"I hate the Weasley's."

"I hate Professor Binns."

"I hate this place."

"I hate this place even more."

"I hate this place so much that my hatred for those disgusting orange flags is nothing in comparison."

"That's it!" Harry shouted. "I hate this place, repeat that Draco."

"I hate this place," Draco repeated.

Harry kept repeating, focusing on that thought, because the more he hated this place, the more he wanted out, and the more he didn't care that Draco was following him.

Harry found the flag, and picked it up. The purple fog scattered, and Harry's mind broke free.

"I don't think I'll ever hate anything ever again," Draco muttered.

Harry looked down to see Draco was holding his hand, sometime between the first hate and the last Draco had taken it so he wouldn't loose him.

"Err, Draco," Harry muttered.

A blue fog poured in, and Harry's head lost his trail of thought, he body became heavy, his eyes droopy, and he had never felt more exhausted in his life.

Harry heard Draco give a huge yawn, which caused Harry to yawn as well.

"Sleep," Draco muttered.

"No, no, sleep," Harry said. "Well, maybe we can rest for a few minutes..."

His conscious was screaming no, but his body was telling him he needed to sleep.

"Yeah," Draco yawned again. "A few minutes."

Harry felt Draco tug his hand down, and Harry collapsed to the ground.

Harry looked out for a moment, a saw a glimpse of orange in the not to far off distance. If he could only just scoot a little...

Harry felt a sharp pain in his arm, and Draco was peering over at him, holding another flag.

"Get up!" Draco said to him.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"You fell asleep."

"So did you," Harry countered.

"I'll explain at the castle, come on," Draco offered him a hand up.

Harry took it, and they groggily headed towards the glowing golden door.

---

Hermione's eyes fluttered opened, and for the first time in a while, she wasn't knocked out immediately with the haunting voices and pain.

Madam Pomfrey was standing over her, smiling.

"Good, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey said. "Mr. Weasley will be delighted."

"Where is Ron? What did he do?" Hermione asked, the last thing she had remembered was Ron running off to beat up Pansy.

"He didn't do anything, Professor Aiyana took care of them," Madam Pomfrey assured.

"What happened to them?" Hermione asked.

"I'm afraid I do not know," she said. "You'll have to speak with the Headmistress to know that, which won't be for a while I'm afraid, you have to get some rest."

"Did you get the curse off?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"In a matter of speaking, Professor Snape came up with a potion that would nullify the effects of the curse."

Hermione did a double take and then remembered that she was talking about Severus' wife, and not Snape himself.

"So the voices will stop?"

"Yes, and so will your headaches," Madam Pomfrey smiled.

Hermione was relieved, no more headaches, no more voices, and maybe no more Pansy, Blaise and Millicent, but that didn't mean it was the end of them. Especially with how hell bent they were about getting her killed or worse, making her go insane.

"You have to get some rest now, but this evening you may have a few visitors."

"What time is it?" Hermione asked.

"It's about two in the afternoon," Madam Pomfrey said.

"I can't miss classes!" Hermione said.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "I'm afraid you'll have to; it'll only be for a few days, you can get Mr. Weasley or Mrs. Patil to bring you your homework until we're sure you're better."

Hermione sighed upset; she definitely didn't like to miss school, even if she had a validated reason. However, what she wanted most of all, was to be spending time with Ron again, she couldn't wait to see him.

---

Back now in the room of magic Harry was waiting for Draco to explain, firstly about what had happened back in the game.

"It's a good thing you snore, Harry," Draco said grinning.

"I do not!" Harry said, embarrassed.

"How would you know?" Draco said, winking. "Well, let's just say you were making a lot of racket in your sleep, and every time I closed my eyes, you'd make another sound. In my head, all I wanted was to get to sleep so badly that I scouted out the flag, and dragged myself over to it; well before that, I tried to punch you in the arm a few times so you'd stop, but you didn't. That's what happened."

"I see," Harry nodded.

"We should sit for the rest of the story," Draco said.

"Right then," Harry nodded.

Harry sat, and Draco sat a seat cushion away from him on the couch.

"Did you get the letter from The Angel?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" Harry asked.

"Hold on," Draco said. "I'll get there."

Harry nodded, letting Draco continue.

"To begin, I guess I'll start off with what happened after last year. I lied to Voldemort, me and Snape both lied to him," Draco said.

Harry didn't say anything; he had decided he would let Draco explain everything before he interrupted.

"Snape is on your side, Harry," Draco said.

_Doubt it, _Harry thought grimly.

"Dumbledore and him both knew what had to be done," Draco sighed. "Snape tried to talk me out of killing him a million times. But I was worried about disappointing my father again. I couldn't let him down, not after he threatened my mum. So, I tried to overcome my fear, but I couldn't do it; so Snape carried out a plan that Dumbledore and him had devised. Snape and I went into hiding immediately thereafter, as I'm sure you could guess," Draco explained.

Harry nodded.

"Snape told me of their plan; and told me I would have to go to Voldemort and tell him I had done the job, not him, so I did. It was fairly easy, after all I've been practicing the art of lying since I was born, being a Malfoy and all," Draco sighed. "Voldemort bought it; he was so pleased with me that offered me another job, this time it was to kill you."

Harry nodded again to show he was listening.

"I told him I would, told him I'd devise a plan, but all the while Snape and I were creating a plan ourselves. I guess now would be the time to tell you of Dumbledore's plan first. Dumbledore created a sort of culling spell on his phoenix bird, so that the song it sang after his death would make him born again. And he was, that night he died, he came back,"

Harry's draw dropped, Dumbledore alive? Was it possible?

"He came back as a woman, naming himself Allie Aiyana. He had created this plan, so that no one would know of his return, not even Voldemort. He would be able to go undercover and devise even more ideas that were ingenious. The only ones that knew of his return, was Snape, myself and Professor McGonagall. She was the one who told the Ministry that Aiyana was a long term friend who was more then qualified for the position of Headmistress and she would be honored to see her there."

Harry thought for a moment, Aiyana is Dumbledore, as inconceivable as the idea seemed, it was absolutely a Dumbledore thing to do.

"So, Dumbledore knew that Severus couldn't come back to Hogwarts, but we needed someone who could keep an eye on me for Voldemorts sake; we have to make it seem like Rosaria was here to keep tabs on me for him, like Severus did last year."

Harry finally had to interrupt, "Rosaria is really Snape's wife?"

Draco grinned, "Yeah."

"Huh," Harry said, and then allowed him to continue.

"Well, Dumbledore has been helping me send you the notes, Harry. We've discovered a new way to destroy Voldemort for good, and that's through this game. Dumbledore knows that the thing both of us want the most is to be rid of Voldemort, and that's the weapon that will appear at the end of this game."

"And the Mortuus Sermo?" Harry asked.

"That was my idea, Dumbledore and Snape don't know about it," Draco sighed. "I didn't want you to know what was going on, mostly because I didn't want you to think you could suddenly like me and confide in me. Also, you're an incredibly bad liar, Harry, I can read you like an open book, I couldn't have Pansy or my father or even Voldemort realizing I had betrayed him until it was the right time. I gave you the Mortuus Sermo to save you from destroying the both of us."

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because for some crazed reason I've actually grown to care about you, and also, you really freak me out when you get all emotional like you did when you burst in here."

"I'm sorry," Harry muttered.

"You would've figured it out without me, Harry. You and your little pep squad would have just unveiled it all sooner or later," Draco said with a shrug.

Harry sighed, that wasn't necessarily true this time around. Harry hadn't once mentioned the Games to Ron or Hermione, or anyone else for that matter. And Ginny and Ron were clearly keeping something from him; and Hermione well, he didn't even have half a clue about what was happening to her.

"I think you're wrong about that, Draco," Harry sighed.

"Why's that?" Draco asked.

"Ron and I haven't exactly been talking a lot lately," Harry muttered.

Draco frowned.

"Things have just gotten too out of control, I just felt I needed to keep things secret until I knew what I was getting into, but that never happened, and I haven't been able to bring myself to tell him," Harry sighed.

"You mean..." Draco started. "...That you didn't get your brilliant conspiracy theory from Weasley? That came from your own head?"

"No, that came from Dobby and Kreacher," Harry said. "House elves who have been following you around since last year."

"I see," Draco said. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, so I can deal with this other little issue I see."

"What's that?"

"What the bloody hell are you doing not talking to your best mate?" Draco screamed.

Harry froze surprised and slightly intimidated.

"You're supposed to take your aggressions out on your mate, that's what Weasley is for! No wonder you haven't been sleeping!"

"What are you screaming about, Draco?" Harry asked trying to keep he's voice low so that Draco would calm his.

Draco started to speak again, but Harry frowned as he Draco went on and on, whatever Draco was muttering about was not in English.

"Draco?" Harry asked.

But Draco kept on going, streaming a fluent line of words that made no sense to Harry.

Draco looked in hysteria, and Harry tried to calm him down, but instead Draco stood up and started ranting while pacing.

Harry leapt up after him, grabbing his swinging hands. Draco stopped speaking, his eyes full of lust or longing, Harry couldn't tell which. Harry moved to let go of Draco's hands, and instead Draco was pulled closer, Harry didn't know if it was his doing or Draco's doing, but either way, Harry's mind was just lost in buzz.

Draco's was just inches from him, and he felt his hands snake around Draco's waist, and his head leaning towards Draco's mouth.

It all happened in a short instant, their lips met, and Harry's eyes fluttered closed.

Harry felt Draco's arms wrapping around his own waist, pulling him in closer, filling the kiss with more passion.

Time passed, and Harry wasn't quite sure who was the first to pull away or how long they had shared that first perfect kiss; the kiss that was still sending shivers down his body even though Draco was now out of arms reach.

If Harry had any doubt before this moment about liking Draco, it had all been demolished in that one instant.


	18. Tuesday Morning

_The Dream_

A field of men in black hooded-cloaks stretched out as far as the eye could see. Facing them, a group of wizards hoodless, but there is a lot less of them then there are hooded cloaks. Bodies lay scattered about, all of them with contorted facial features of pure fright. The stench of death is almost unbearable, and so are the cries of pain.

Harry is among the hoodless crowd, and he's the one standing in front of them all. He has his wand in one hand, and a sword in the other.

The two armies are facing off again, waiting for the other to make a move. There is commotion coming from the other side of the field as a hooded figure makes its way to the front. The figure pushes aside the last of the hooded figures in its way so that it is face to face with Harry.

Harry reaches up, and pulls off the figures hood, it's Draco. He's smiling, but it's not a menacing smile.

Harry pulls away, a little shocked, and he feels a hand land on his shoulder. He looks up to see Dumbledore smiling down at him, Harry nods back and turns to Draco.

"Here," Harry says, as he hands Draco his own sword.

Draco takes it, and takes his place in line by Harry.

The hooded army is in an uproar and Voldemort is screaming something Harry doesn't understand. Voldemort advances on them. Harry raises up his wand, but Voldemort makes a gesture and Harry goes flying back into an old wall of a house.

Voldemort has his wand on Draco, and Draco is raising up the sword.

A whisper comes from inside the house.

"Harry, darling son, don't watch," it's a feminine whisper, the whisper of Harry's mother.

But Harry is still watching Draco. Voldemort is laughing, and speaking to him in the language that Harry doesn't know, and Draco speaks back in the same language.

Draco looks over at him, his eyes shinning with fear and an apology. Voldemort has taken Harry's sword away from Draco, and is raising it up.

"Harry!"

---

Harry jumped awake; he was sweating profusely, but feeling oddly cold. He closed his eyes, he had had that dream before, but Draco had never come foreword before, and Voldemort had never tossed him off. He knew there was that house in the dream, the house that if he wasn't mistaken, was Godric's Hollow, but he never been that close to it before.

Who had screamed at the end of his dream? Was it Draco? His mum? He couldn't tell who the voice had belonged to.

Harry groaned again feeling sick to his stomach, that dream was always unsettling, and this time it was more so. He glanced at his watch; it was five o'clock Tuesday morning. He and Draco had missed all of their Monday classes because of the game.

_Draco, _Harry thought. The last time he had been with him, they had kissed. After that, the rest was pretty much a blur of awkward talking. Draco was the first to leave that room yesterday, he said he was exhausted, Harry was too, but he didn't know if he could get any sleep.

When Harry had come up to his room, he had found the letter from the Angel was gone, Draco must have taken it back because it wasn't important anymore.

Harry blinked a few times, and pulled on his glasses; there was no way he was getting back to sleep.

---

Draco was lying in his bed; everything that had happened in the last few hours was running through his head.

He had told Harry practically everything. He had told him about Dumbledore, that was one of the things he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, and yet he had done it.

But the thing nagging on his mind the most, was that Harry Potter had kissed _him. _One unbelievable kiss that affirmed everything Draco had been worried about for a month. Draco was indeed attracted to Harry, and now he didn't have to worry about whether or not Harry had the same sort of feelings.

Draco closed his eyes in a blissful smile, he had never been so happy. He opened his eyes again, and spotted the letter that he had written to Harry as the Angel, and then he remembered. Harry had interrupted him in the middle of one of the most important letters he had ever written. A letter to his father that explained how the plan was going to go down.

The letter was still sitting unfinished in the room of magic, and Draco needed to get to it. He pushed his covers off himself and slipped on a pair of shoes. He rushed through the castle and into the room, and shut the door. The room was quiet, and dark, so Draco lit a few candles and sat down to finish.

Everything had to be very specific, if Draco messed up even one line, if he let anything seem even a bit off, his father would suspect fowl play.

He finished the letter, signed it, and sealed it in an envelope. Just as he was finishing packing everything up, he heard the door open. Draco turned, expecting to see Harry, but instead came face to face with Pansy, who looked like she had been crying for quite a long time.

"Draco?" Pansy's voice was small and soft.

"Pansy?" Draco asked frowning. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to...to talk to you...before I left," Pansy sniffled.

"Left?" Draco asked.

"The Headmistress has felt it fit to kick Blaise, Millicent and me out of Hogwarts," Pansy muttered. "As of today, I am no longer a student at this school."

Pansy's voice was filled with disappointment, and Draco couldn't help but feel a tiny bit sorry for her, after all, at a point in his life he had cared about her.

"I'm sorry," Draco said.

"Don't be." Pansy shrugged. "I should be apologizing to you."

Draco looked at her curiously.

"I told your father," Pansy said solemnly.

"What did you tell him?" Draco asked, controlling the anger that was beginning to rise in his voice.

"I told him that you and Potter were conversing a lot, and that you two seemed to be up to something," Pansy said. "I was just mad at you, I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Draco asked curiously, it wasn't like Pansy at all.

Pansy gave a half smile as she wiped her face with the back of her hand. "You know me too well," Pansy said. "I need a favor from you."

"Well you can forget it," Draco hissed. "I'm not doing you any more favors."

Pansy's eyes flashed, "It has to do with Granger."

"I don't care if it has to do with the Minister of Magic! I'm not doing you anything," Draco snarled.

"Why? What has gotten into you?"

"It's called sensibility," Draco muttered. "You should look into it."

"This is sensible!" Pansy croaked. "If I don't carry out our plans, then I'm dead! Do you hear that Draco? I'll be dead because you couldn't bother to help me."

"Then I hope it's a quick death," Draco sneered. "Now get out of here."

"You're going to pay for this Draco," Pansy said under her breath. "I promise you, you're going to regret this."

Draco just smiled at her; she let out a huff and stormed out of the room.

"Good riddance," Draco said after her.

Pansy didn't have much else left to do now, without Draco as a inside source at Hogwarts he very much doubted that they'd be able to attack Hermione at all.

Draco brought the letter with him to his dormitory to send it with his Eagle. It was now six o'clock, and no one was in the common room as he past through. However, in the dormitory, he found Harry sitting on his bed.

"Morning," Draco said to him.

Draco watched him cautiously; he had no idea how Harry was going to act, or what was going to happen with their relationship.

Harry looked up, "Hey. You're up early."

"So are you," Draco said.

Draco looked around for his eagle, but it was no where in sight, however, Harry's snowy owl was, and had dropped a letter onto Harry's lap which he had already been torn open and read.

"Could I borrow you owl?" Draco asked. "I need to send a letter."

Harry paused for a moment, "Yeah, I just have to write a reply and she can take both."

"Thanks," Draco said, as he watched Harry quickly grab a piece of parchment. "Who are you writing to?"

"Lupin," Harry muttered, as he scribbled away. "Apparently I have to go home for the holiday."

"Home?" Draco said curiously. "To the Muggles?"

"No, I don't live with them anymore." Harry shook his head as he placed the parchment in an envelope. "I have my own house."

"Wow," Draco said, impressed.

"I have a question, Draco," Harry said, as he folded sealed the envelope.

"Yeah?" Draco asked.

"What are you doing for the holiday?" Harry asked.

Harry took Draco's letter, and tied both to his owl, who immediately took off out the open window.

Draco was puzzled on why he wanted to know. "I have to see my father mid vacation, but other then that, nothing."

"Your father?" Harry said, raising an eye.

"Yes," Draco nodded.

"Your father is awful, Draco," Harry said in a low voice.

"I know," Draco agreed. "But I have to, or he'll try to take a more affirmative action."

Harry frowned, clearly unsure what that meant.

"So, why did you want to know what I was doing?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I was thinking that maybe we'd be able to play this vacation without having to worry about classes and homework," Harry said.

"Sounds good to me," Draco nodded. But what really sounded good to him was spending more time with Harry.

"Good," Harry nodded, and then awkwardly looked down.

Draco paused awkwardly too. One of them was going to have to bring up the kiss or their relationship soon, or they'd never be able to have a decent conversation again.

Harry was the one who finally broke the silence.

"What happens now?" Harry asked.

"I-" Draco stared to say that he didn't know.

"Draco, I think I'm falling for you," Harry mumbled.

Harry looked so innocent, and unsure.

"Oh yeah, why's that?" Draco asked. He hadn't meant to be sarcastic.

Harry suddenly looked very awkward.

Draco laughed, "Well, if you must hear it. I think I'm falling for you as well."

Harry stared at him, relieved by Draco's statement.

"Are we like, dating...or something?" Harry asked.

Draco burrowed his eyebrows in thought, is that what he wanted? Yes, it was, but was that what Harry wanted? Could Harry take being outted? Would he want his friends to know?

"Do you want to?" Draco asked.

"I-I, I dunno," Harry sighed. "Ron's definitely not going to approve of this."

For a moment, this statement made Draco get a little irked. What did it matter what his friends thought? Then he remembered, this was Harry he was dealing with, and other people's feelings mattered.

"We can keep it quiet for a while," Draco suggested. "Until you're ready."

Harry didn't answer.

---

"Unless you want to go screaming and shouting it to the world, then be my guest," Draco said. "I'd do the same if I had anyone to scream it to."

Harry detected a little bit of loneliness at the end of Draco's statement.

"Let's keep it quiet for a while," Harry finally decided. "This vacation, I'll tell them."

By them, he meant Ron and Hermione, and if he waited for vacation then that meant he had a week to come up with how to tell them.

Draco nodded; this seemed to be okay with him. "Sounds good. You don't want me to be with you while you do it, do you?" Draco asked, screwing up his face.

"Maybe," Harry sighed. "I don't know yet."

"Alright," Draco said.

Draco smiled, and Harry melted.

_Wow_, Harry thought. _I'm with Draco Malfoy._ That was a thought he never believed he'd think in his life, let alone be glad for thinking it.

Harry heard Keifer stirring and pulling open his curtains, he looked at them as he yawned.

"Harry, Draco," Keifer said. "You're actually here."

Harry and Draco weren't in their dormitory a lot, especially because neither of them could get much sleep.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Actually, we were just leaving," Draco said.

_We were? _Harry thought.

"That's cool," Keifer said, as he dragged himself to the bathroom.

"Breakfast?" Draco asked.

"Oh, sure," Harry said.

"Let me get dressed first," Draco said. "I'll meet you down there."

"Okay," Harry nodded.

"Are we sitting together?" Draco asked quickly.

"Umm, sure," Harry nodded. It would be a beginning transition for Ron to see him with Draco first, before he sprang the news on him.

Harry made his way down the Great Hall and found Ron sitting at the table reading a book. Harry did a double take, there was tons of food laid out before Ron, and yet he was reading a book.

Harry sat across from him, and Ron looked up.

"Homework?" Harry asked.

"Sort of," Ron muttered, placing the book down before Harry could read the title. "You missed class yesterday."

"Oh, err, yeah, I did," Harry nodded. "I slept through most of the day."

"Oh," Ron said. "Did you visit Hermione?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "On Sunday."

"Madam Pomfrey said she was free to go today," Ron said. "Because she wouldn't stop nagging about missing class." Ron grinned.

Harry smiled too, "She would."

"I know!" Ron laughed.

The two laughed, as if they had been talking for months, as if both of them weren't hiding anything.

"So, is she coming to breakfast?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Ron nodded.

Harry wanted to bring up Draco, tell Ron that he was going to be eating with them, but he couldn't figure out if he should call him Draco or Malfoy, the latter would freak him out less.

"So," Ron said after a moment. "Hey, how have you come along with getting information from Malfoy?"

That was one way to bring up the topic, Harry thought gladly.

"Actually, It's going fine," Harry said. "In fact, I'm having him eat with us, so I can discuss more with him."

"You invited him to breakfast?" Ron said, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Well, it's a good thing Hermione is going to be here, or I'd refuse to let you, because I can't deal with that twit without her to hold me back," Ron said, grabbing a helping of toast to munch on. "You know, Ginny told me something funny the other day."

"Oh yeah," Harry said, wondering what it was.

"She said you and Malfoy were in the Library researching something, is that true?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry nodded, grabbing a piece of toast as well.

Harry didn't elaborate, and before Ron could ask anything more, Hermione came into the Hall, and Ron quickly froze.

Hermione walked over.

"Hermione," Ron said. "How are you?"

Hermione grinned at Ron's awkwardness, and sat down beside him.

"I'm feeling better," she smiled. "Morning, Harry."

"Morning, Hermione," Harry smiled. "Madam Pomfrey found a counter spell?"

"Well, sort of," Hermione said. "She and Rosaria came up with a nullifying potion for me."

"That Snape woman?" Ron protested loudly. "She trusted that fowl man's wife?"

"Ron, really. It's helped," Hermione tried to calm him.

"I still don't trust her," Ron growled.

"I know," Hermione said, taking his hand underneath the table.

Harry smiled; these two had finally gotten their act together.

"Stop smiling, Harry!" Ron said swatting at him. "I've got enough grief from Ginny cooing over us."

"It's just nice, that's all," Harry smiled.

Harry turned to see Draco coming towards them. He was only wearing his school uniform, but he still looked really good.

"Morning," Harry told him.

Draco gave him a curious look, asking him if he had told them, Harry shook his head quickly.

"Hey," Draco said, taking a seat next to Harry.

Hermione regarded him apprehended.

"Malfoy, why are you..." Hermione turned to Ron, believing she had missed something in the last few days.

Ron shrugged giving Draco a slight glare.

"So," Ron said. "You're not being a slimy git like normal and hiding information from us, are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Weasel-y," Draco corrected himself.

Clearly calling Ginny, Weasel that many times had gotten Draco to associate the name with incessant clinging.

"You're an ass Malfoy," Ron snapped.

"Yeah, well at least I-"

Harry nudged him in the ribs and Draco stopped short and pretended to have a bad cough.

Maybe this whole eating thing wasn't going to work, after all, Draco still didn't like his friends, and Ron still hated Draco.

"I have a question for you, Malfoy," Hermione said.

Draco raised an eye at her, "What's that Granger?"

"Who in their right made let _you_ back into Hogwarts?" Hermione's voice was icy.

Harry stared at her taken aback, and so did the other two boys. This statement coming from Hermione was almost as bad as if Draco had called her a Mudblood.

"The Headmistress, if you must know," Draco said, his voice just as icy.

Hermione's face fell into complete and utter confusion.

Harry realized then that Draco knew Hermione had figured it out, figured out that Aiyana was Dumbledore.

"But why-" Hermione said, frowning and pausing.

"Why indeed!" Ron said disgruntled. "Aiyana must be pretty thick to not realize what a fucking creep you are, Malfoy."

The three looked down as Ron said this, and Ron got confused.

"Don't," Hermione said quickly. "Just drop it."

"I don't get it," Ron said.

"No shit, Weasley," Draco sneered. "For you to get it you'd actually have to have some brains in that thick skull of yours."

"Alright," Harry said quickly. "Stop."

Draco grinned evilly at Ron, who glared back.

"I actually have to go see Aiyana," Hermione said shortly. "She's going to tell me what happened to Pansy and what I can do now to protect myself."

"They got kicked out," Draco said quickly.

Their eyes turned to him.

"Pansy told me this morning," Draco continued. "They left today on the train."

"Oh," Hermione paused. "I see."

"I'm still going to escort you up there," Ron said quickly. "I don't trust him." Ron nodded his head at Draco.

Draco just shrugged.

"Well, then we better go now," Hermione said. "I don't want to make you late for class."

Ron just smiled, as they stood up.

"Harry, can I have a quick word?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded, and started to stand.

Ron stood back by the table as Hermione led him off.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"Harry, I know that Malfoy may not have been involved with Pansy's scheme, but he's still evil, and I don't know if I can handle being around him, or any of the Slytherins for that matter."

"Oh," Harry said, frowning. "I-I didn't know, sorry."

"Don't be, I know you're just trying to sort this Malfoy business out, I just wanted you to know that I just don't feel comfortable around him."

Harry nodded, "Alright. But I just want to warn you, he may be coming with us this vacation."

"He's what?"

"It'll only be for a short time."

"Erm, okay, Harry...But why-"

"Well at least my mom's not a whore!" Harry heard Ron scream.

Both turned to see Draco and Ron fighting.

They rushed over.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"He insulted my mum!" Ron yelled.

"He insulted me first!" Draco countered back.

"Oh, let's just go!" Hermione said, annoyed.

"Right," Ron said, giving Draco a stern glare. "You better watch it Malfoy."

"Or you'll wh-" Draco stopped when he saw the look Harry was giving him.

When Ron and Hermione had left, Harry smiled at him, shaking his head, "Can't you get along with anyone?"

"I can't get along with _him,_" Draco sighed. "I'm sorry, I told myself I wouldn't do that so you'd be pleased, but clearly that didn't happen."

"It's okay," Harry shrugged. "It's just you, Draco."

Draco shrugged, "Yeah, got a point."

"Well...I should start heading to class,"

"Hold on," Draco smiled, "Follow me."

Harry watched as Draco started to walk out of the Great Hall, Harry followed him towards an empty hall. When they had reached it, Draco turned back towards him.

"That's better," Draco said.

Draco slid a hand through Harry's hair, and Harry became weak in the knees as Draco leaned in to kiss him. Harry closed his eyes and kissed him back as he was pushed up against the wall. After a moment, Draco pulled away, one hand still cupping his face.

"We ought to get to class," Draco muttered, not moving away.

"Yeah," Harry said, his breathing shallow.

Harry pulled Draco closer to him, kissing him again more fiercely. Finally, Harry pulled away, which was not easy because he was wedged between Draco and the wall.

"We really have to go," Harry laughed, as Draco tickled his neck with a kiss.

"Right," Draco said, moving away. "Class."

Harry straightened his robes and glasses, which had both gone slightly askew.

He didn't want to leave for class, he wanted to stay with Draco in this hall for as long as he wanted.

"So, you're still on for this vacation?" Harry asked.

"It's sounding more and more appealing every second," Draco said, grinning.

"Great." Harry smiled. "This vacation it is."


	19. I Told HEr

The portraits on the Headmistress' office blinked and stared as Aiyana confirmed Draco's story to Hermione.

Hermione was sitting with straight posed posture, listening intently.

"All three left his morning on the train, and are forbidden to ever step foot in Hogwarts again," Aiyana said assuredly.

"Malfoy told me that this morning," Hermione said, nodding.

"Did he?" Aiyana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry invited him to breakfast, I'm not sure why…" Hermione frowned. "Professor, may I ask you something?"

"Of course you may, Hermione, you may ask whatever you wish; however I cannot promise you an answer," Aiyana told her in a soft voice.

"Why did you let Malfoy back into Hogwarts after what happened last year? How can you be so sure he's not part of Pansy's scheme?"

"Mr. Malfoy is back at Hogwarts because a few choice circumstances arose."

_Circumstances_, hadn't Harry said the same thing about coming back to Hogwarts?

"Draco is not evil I assure you, Ms. Granger; and he knows far better then to risk his life divulging in plans with Ms. Parkinson."

"Does he really know – I mean – that you're you?" Hermione asked.

"Did he give you that sort of indication?"

"Yes, this morning at breakfast." Hermione nodded wearily.

"Mr. Malfoy is clever, nearly as clever as you, Hermione; he'd of course have figured out that you knew."

"Do you think he told Harry? Harry's been spending a lot of time with him lately," Hermione said.

"I don't believe Mr. Malfoy would tell a soul; but I've of course been proven wrong before," Aiyana said, a twinkle in her eye.

"Does it matter if Harry knows?"

"It would not help, but it certainly could hinder things," Aiyana said in a solemn voice. "Harry is destined for great things; Voldemort wants to know what Harry knows, and the less Harry has to tell, the better."

"You think they'd torture him?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed.

"I think he'd tell them, not on purpose of course. Occulamency is not the only way they can get Harry to talk."

---

Harry was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, ad all he could think about was Draco; the same went for his Charms class, and every other class for that matter. Mostly, Harry drifted through the day, lost in day dream.

When lunch came around Harry went to find Draco; he found him coming up from the dungeons, arguing with Theodore Nott.

"I can talk to whoever I please, Nott," Draco hissed.

"You're giving yourself a bad rep-"

"I don't care what kind of reputation I have," Draco sneered. "Unlike some, I don't have to prove anything to anyone."

"You do now!" Theodore argued. "At least before you were hanging with the appropriate crowd, but now…"

"Bugger off, Theo, before I slug you one," Draco said threateningly.

Harry began to approach again.

Theodore looked over to see him and glared, "See Draco! Now they're following you around, it's disgusting.

Draco looked up to see Harry arriving and he nodded his head.

"Hey," Harry said to Draco, ignoring Theodore.

"Hey," Draco said.

"Tell him to drop dead, Draco!" Theodore said, continuing to glare at Harry.

"Drop dead, Nott," Draco growled.

"Pansy was right," Theodore said suddenly. "You really have lost it."

Theodore shook his head, and brushed past Harry, slamming his shoulder into his as he went.

"Ouch," Harry said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Ass," Draco hissed after Theodore.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"He's jealous."

Harry lifted an eyebrow.

Draco sighed, "Pansy came to me and not him; he's dating Pansy you know?"

"No, I didn't know," Harry said. "What did Pansy come to you for?"

"A Granger thing," Draco said. "He's also pissed because Pansy told him to be. I turned her offer down, and now she's sending her boy after me."

"I see," Harry nodded.

"Yeah, well," Draco shrugged. "Up for some lunch?"

"Sure." Harry nodded, and the two started to walk towards the Great Hall. "Hey, whatever happened to Crabbe and Goyle?"

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"I haven't seen them around," Harry noted.

"Yeah," Draco paused. "They dropped out."

"Really?" Harry asked. "Why?"

"Their families are dead," Draco said, looking stern.

"Dead?" Harry gasped. "But don't his parents support Voldemort?"

"They did." Draco shrugged. "It's a long story, mostly they betrayed him; not on purpose, but that's how the Dark Lord sees it."

"Wow," Harry said bewildered.

"Harry, Malfoy," Hermione called to them from a nearby staircase.

The twp stopped and turned.

"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted as she approached.

Draco didn't say anything.

"Malfoy, Aiyana wants you up in her office," Hermione said.

"Oh, alright," Draco nodded, and then turned to Harry. "Catch you later?" Draco asked, eyeing Hermione uncomfortably.

Harry looked awkward as well and nodded, "Yeah," he answered, wishing Hermione was somewhere else for a moment.

Draco gave a small smile and left up the way Hermione had come.

"You two are friendly," Hermione noted.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I guess we are."

Hermione nodded, "Aiyana trusts him a lot."

Harry again nodded.

Hermione eyed him suspiciously, "Harry, I just wanted to say, that if you have to have him over for vacation, then I guess I'm okay with that; but be careful alright?"

"I will, Hermione," Harry said. "Don't worry.

Hermione smiled," Are you coming to lunch?"

"Oh," Harry paused, that just didn't sound like fun anymore. "Nah, I'll catch you in class."

"Alright," Hermione said. "Bye, Harry."

"Bye."

He wanted to call her back, to tell her the truth about what was going on with Draco; he wanted to tell someone who would listen, who would have a reaction to what he said, so that he knew this was really happening, but he was too frightened to tell Hermione.

He made his way up towards the common room, and as he passed by Ginny and Luna coming down he turned back without thinking.

"Ginny," he called.

He didn't even pause to ask himself what he was doing.

"Can I talk to you?"

---

Draco entered into the Headmistress' office. She was sitting, staring at papers on her desk.

"Professor?" Draco said, as he pulled up a chair.

"Draco," Aiyana said, looking up. "How are you?"

"Okay," Draco said wearily. "What's going on?"

"I just finished talking with Ms. Granger," Aiyana said with a slight smile. "She just told me a curious thing."

Draco didn't say anything, just stared her in the eyes.

"You've been eating breakfast with Harry?"

"Just this morning," Draco said slowly.

"You are being careful, Mr. Malfoy?" Aiyana asked. "Like we discussed?"

"Of course," Draco nodded.

"You haven't told Harry about my secret?"

"Of course not," Draco lied, and it was a very believable lie. "Why would I tell Potter any of what he doesn't need to know about?"

"Indeed, Mr. Malfoy," Aiyana said.

"Harry just wanted to keep me under a closer watch, he recently got a visit from two House Elves," Draco said, hoping this meant something to Aiyana because he wasn't quite sure what it meant.

"And these House Elves told him about what happened when you went to see Voldemort?"

"Yeah," Draco nodded. "That's it really."

"Are you sure?" Aiyana asked.

Why he didn't tell Aiyana the truth: because he'd need to give her an explanation, and the only explanation he had was something that even Dumbledore probably wouldn't understand.

"Yes," Draco nodded.

"And your father?"

"I sent him a letter this morning," Draco said.

"Very good," Aiyana said. "And you're visiting Harry this vacation?"

Draco grimaced for a moment, _she knows that too? _

"Yeah," Draco nodded.

"If you feel it wise, then I won't object," Aiyana said. "But if your father finds out..."

"I know," Draco said quickly. "He won't find out."

---

Flash to Ginny with a look of pure terror and confusion on her face.

Flash back to a few moments earlier just as Harry had led Ginny into an empty room.

"Harry, what's going on?"

"I think I'm dating Draco," Harry blurted out.

And there's the face, the face that he could expect to see from every one of his friends when he tells them.

Ginny's mouth opened, but she was not capable of speech; Harry seized the moment to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Harry said. "I didn't mean to tell you like that. I've just been thinking...I'm so sorry...Are you okay?"

"I-I, what?" Ginny sputtered.

"I think I really like him,' Harry said.

"Okay...You like him...Harry...did you just say the words 'dating him'..." Ginny still look petrified.

Harry blushed, "Well, yes."

"Oh, I-I...I don't know what to say...Or do...Harry..." Ginny trailed off.

"It's okay Ginny, I understand. I just had to tell someone one."

"You told me...You told me..." Ginny frowned.

"Forget it," Harry said quickly. "I just had to say the words, that's all."

"Forget it? Harry, you just told me you're dating Malfoy!" Ginny said, slowly figuring out what was happening.

"It's the truth," Harry said, staring at her.

"You're...You're not gay are you? I mean..." Ginny said, indicating herself.

Harry just stared at her. This had been a huge mistake; Ginny was definitely not the person who should have been the first to know.

"With Malfoy?" Ginny asked, trying to make sense of Harry's words.

Harry nodded.

"Oh, my," Ginny breathed in.

"Don't tell anyone yet, okay Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Of course not," Ginny nodded. "But, Malfoy?"

Harry smiled, and let out a laugh.

Ginny sighed, "No offense Harry, I think it's nice that you told me and all, but to laugh about it? I still have feelings for you..."

Harry's face fell, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Ginny shrugged. "You didn't tell me to still like you. But can I ask you something that may seem weird?"

"Shoot," Harry said.

"You dumped me last year because you were worried about me getting hurt; are you not afraid that Malfoy will get hurt loving you?" Ginny eyed him.

Harry paused.

"It's okay, Harry," Ginny said quickly. "I get it now."

"Get what now?" Harry said confused.

"Get why we can't be together," Ginny said softly.

Ginny started to walk away.

"Ginny," Harry said, feeling really awful.

She turned back around, "Harry, you seem happy – you are right?"

Harry gave her a tiny smile, "I am."

"Then go be happy; Just not around me," Ginny said as an afterthought and gave him a slight grin as she left the room.

Harry stared after her, at least Ginny was understanding, she didn't judge him; Ron on the other hand would be a different story.

---

The rest of the week dragged on for Harry, mostly because the only time he ever saw Draco was in Potions class, and Professor Aiyana kept pairing Harry up with Ron.

They would shoot each other glances from across the room, but that was it.

Harry didn't try to have Draco for breakfast again because Ron put up a huge fight about it, and Harry didn't want a repeat from their first morning.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Harry met up with Draco out on the Quidditch pitch.

"You're not playing Quidditch this year," Draco said as Harry approached him.

"No," Harry shook his head.

"Shame," Draco said, the breeze blowing back his hair. "You're really good."

Harry smiled at the compliment, "Thanks; you're not half bad yourself."

Draco smirked, "Oh, I'm better then you."

Harry laughed. "You wish."

Draco winked, "Just keep telling yourself that, it might sink it."

Harry just shook his head laughing, this little banter was actually fun.

"Let's walk," Draco said.

Harry nodded and two started towards the lake.

"I told someone about us," Harry said slowly.

"Oh did you?" Draco said.

"I told Ginny."

Draco started to laugh, "You what?"

"Yeah," Harry grinned too. "I had to tell someone, and she sort of passed by. I just couldn't get my mind off of you."

Harry noticed Draco turn a little pink.

"Well, what she say?" Draco asked.

"She – uh – I dunno really, she said that I should be happy, and that I seemed happy, or at least, that was the coherent part of that conversation."

Draco shrugged, "Good, cause I didn't want to have to fight her for you."

Harry laughed.

Draco smacked him lightly.

"Hey! What was that for?" Harry laughed again.

"Get that image out of your head!" Draco demanded.

"What image?" Harry said somewhat sheepishly.

Draco smiled.

They were now standing at the edge of the lake; the sun was slowly setting and its rays sparkled in reflection of the lake.

"It's beautiful," Harry said, looking out.

Draco nodded, "You have no idea."

Harry turned to look at Draco whose eyes were off somewhere else, as he gazed into the distance.

"I know of a place," Draco said dreamily. "It's so beautiful you'd actually loose yourself there. Every trouble disappears, and nothing matters for a few moments."

"Wow," Harry said.

"I'll take you there sometime if you want," Draco said, turning towards him.

"I'd like that," Harry smiled.

"Good," Draco said.

Draco took Harry's hand, and turned back towards the lake. Harry stared at him for a moment, and then gazed out at the setting sun as well.

---

The next morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Draco all got on the train with dozens of other students who were leaving for the holiday.

The trouble with the compartments was that there was really only room for four; Harry was trying to find a quick escape out of Hermione and Ron's compartment and found the opportunity when they started to make out.

Harry made a loud 'ahem' noise and they broke it off.

"I think I'll leave you two alone," Harry said quickly.

"You don't have to, mate," Ron said only half-heartedly.

"It's okay," Harry insisted. "You two have fun."

Harry quickly slid out of the compartment, and went looking for Draco; unfortunately Luna, and Ginny found him first.

Harry sat down in their compartment, and settled in, knowing it wouldn't be easy to get away. Ginny didn't act any different, and Harry couldn't figure out if it was because she didn't want to think about it or because she just truly didn't care.

"So, you two are going to Grimmauld Place for the vacation?" Luna asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Percy is probably going to show up," Ginny said, raising an eye at Luna.

Clearly something was going on that Harry didn't know about.

"Fleur and Bill are already there, because Mum and Dad went on some sort of thing for the Order, and they didn't want us to be alone."

"Order thing?" Harry asked, he hadn't heard anything about that.

"Mum and Dad didn't exactly tell us," Ginny explained. "We just assumed, as they said it was top secret and we wouldn't be allowed to send messages to them in a few weeks."

Harry nodded; Lupin's message to him was probably almost as vague as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley letter's to their children. All Lupin had told him was that there was major complications arising and they had to be dealt with immediately, of course it hadn't been safe to say any details in a letter, so he just had to wait until he arrived home...

Neville joined them halfway through their journey, and the topic turned to the DA.

"Have you given up on it?" Luna asked in a misty voice.

"No, I haven't" Harry shook his head. "I just have been really busy."

"Gran says that I should be practicing this stuff on my own, even if you don't have any more meetings," Neville said.

"You should," Harry agreed.

"We all should," Ginny said.

When that topic died down the four of them talked about nothing in particular, and Harry's thoughts were everywhere but in the room.

Finally, the train started to come to a stop, and Harry retrieved his suitcases from the overhead compartment.

---

Four figures were in a darkened business building; each was wearing a black cloak and had their wands out.

They were sneaking into a back area, keeping silent as they moved across a long hallway. There were walls and walls of bookshelves as they went along, looking for something.

"Anything," one of the figures asked so softly that they could barely hear it.

"Not yet," the leading figure whispered.

The four continued down a few halls of just more books; and stopped swiftly when they heard a loud creak of the wooden floors.

They stood still for a moment, making sure nothing heard the noise; when they had waited a sufficient amount of time they headed back down a row of books.

The leading figure motioned for the others to follow him through a door, and as they entered, a man with silver blonde hair, gray eyes and a smirking face came up to the door and peered in after them. The figures had no idea the man was there.

He whispered something to a woman who approached him from behind.

"Bellatrix," he whispered. "Now."

Both the man and Bellatrix went into the room.

The four figures who had not been expecting them were quickly caught off guard. Without much of a fight, Bellatrix disarmed and knocked two of the figures out. The man had managed to get the other two figures disarmed and cornered. Bellatrix busied herself tying up the two figures while Lucius dealt with the other two.

"Lucius!" one of the figures cried as the man put his wand to his face.

Lucius grinned evilly, and opened his mouth to speak. There was a loud feminine squeak from the other armed figure as she lunged at Lucius, who quickly realized what was going on, and shot her back with his wand. Her head smacked the wall, and she fell nearly unconscious to the ground. The man let out a loud cry and Lucius put his wand on him again.

"You will watch her die!" Lucius growled.

He muttered the full body bind curse on the figure, and turned his wand to the woman.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The figured let out a very muffled cry as he saw the flashing green light hit the woman, and her head hit the floor, lifeless.

Lucius then turned to him.

"Now," Lucius smiled. "It's your turn."


	20. Red or Gold

As Harry stepped off the train, he heard a loud cry of "What do you mean he's coming with us?" from Ron.

"I told you five times already," Hermione said, as she stepped off the train behind Harry.

"I thought you were joking!"

Draco and Harry exchanged looks, and Harry turned to Ron.

"Don't worry about it Ron," Harry said. "He'll leave all of you alone, I promise."

"It's bloody insanity that's what it is!" Ron muttered. "What's gotten into your head, Harry?"

Draco smirked at him, and raised an eyebrow, and Harry looked down, trying not to blush.

"It's only for the first few days," Harry said.

"Ron, really," Hermione said. "We'll stay out of his way, and he'll stay out of ours."

"Yeah," Draco drawled. "What Granger said."

"Don't you talk to me!" Ron said grudgingly.

The five met up with Lupin, who was looking at Draco curiously.

"Have a good train ride?" Lupin asked them.

There was a murmur of yes'.

"Good," Lupin nodded. "Harry, I going to need to talk to you when we get to your house."

"Alright," Harry nodded.

Lupin paused again, his eyes flickering to Draco, looking unsure.

"Harry, you are aware that...Malfoy appears to be-"

"Yeah, he's staying for a while."

"Bogus," Ron muttered.

"I see," Lupin said, frowning. "Well, we'll be on our way then."

---

The ride back to Grimmauld Place was very quiet, mainly because if anyone spoke Ron would end up shouting something about 'insanity'.

When they arrived, they all took in their suitcases, and Harry told Lupin he had to get Draco settled in first.

"Nice place," Draco said, as Harry led him away.

"Thanks," Harry said.

He brought him up to a guest room.

"This is your room," Harry said opening the door.

"Where are you sleeping?" Draco asked, almost innocently.

Harry smiled, "just down the hall."

"Oh really?" Draco said, placing his stuff down.

"I'm rooming with Ron," Harry said slowly.

Draco frowned, "That's not a very good idea."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"How am I to sneak into your room at night if Weasley's there to scream his head off when he finds us?"

Harry laughed and shook his head, "I guess you won't be sneaking anywhere."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Draco grinned. "Now go run along and take care of Lupin's business, I want some Harry time."

Harry felt his insides tighten..._Harry time? _

"Right," Harry said. "Just make yourself at home."

"Oh, of course," Draco grinned. "And a little Weasley sabotage wouldn't be too far amiss either."

Harry just shook his head, and left Draco, shutting the door behind him.

He found Lupin in the kitchen, putting away food. Harry took a seat, and stared up at Lupin, who just noticed him.

"Lupin," Harry said, "what's going on?"

Lupin sighed, and shut the fridge; he pulled up a seat across from Harry.

"We've tracked down two more people in the prophecies," Lupin said slowly.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Well, that's progress."

"Molly and Arthur went to retrieve them a few nights ago."

"Good," Harry said.

"And I'm sure you heard about what happened to the man who was staying here." Lupin sighed.

"He was murdered," Harry said. "Kreacher and Dobby told me, they scared him out of the house."

Lupin looked solemn, "I wasn't aware of the last bit; but never the less, we need to start preparing Harry."

Harry frowned, "Preparing for war?"

"Yes," Lupin said. "And we need you to tell us what to do."

"Why me?"

"Harry," Lupin sighed.

"No I'm serious!" Harry said, standing up. "You seem to be doing a fine job of this by yourself!"

"Calm down, Harry-" Lupin stood up, trying to calm him.

"No, I'm done making all the decisions! You can make some on your own," Harry said, shaking his head. "I don't want to be in charge of any more people dying."

"Look, Harry, it's late. Why don't you go get some sleep and we'll talk about this in the morning."

"No!" Harry said sternly. "If you want to discuss things, then sure, I'll do that. But I am NOT going to start giving out orders again."

"Harry you can't run-"

"-I'm not running from anything," Harry hissed. "Goodnight."

Harry stalked off, and Harry felt Lupin's eyes watching him as he went.

Yes, he may have overreacted, but he was just so tired of everything being his fault when things went wrong.

He went into his room, and slammed the door shut; Ron wasn't in the room yet. Harry pulled off his clothes and got into his pajamas and lay down to sleep, pulling the covers over his head.

---

Harry awoke at four in the morning, Ron was sleeping in the bed next to him, and the house was eerily silent.

He heard a soft noise come from the hallway; he pulled on his glasses and went to investigate. He took his wand and muttered 'Lumos'. The hallway lit up and the beam of light showed Draco was taking something off the wall, and he had a letter in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked bewildered.

Draco startled and dropped the thing he was taking down.

"Shit!" Draco turned to see Harry. "Oh, Harry, it's just you. Damn you scared me."

"What are you doing?"

"Oh." Draco said, as he picked up the thing. "I was just...err...stealing something?"

Harry's face fell, thoroughly confused, "So you're not even going to try and lie about it?"

Draco's face stayed blank, "Guess not." He sighed. "It's important, Harry...If they see it, everything will be ruined."

"See what?" Harry frowned. "What are you taking about?"

Draco held up the item, and he noticed it was the Weasley's clock from the Burrow; Mrs. Weasley must have brought it up here while she was staying.

"Why are you taking the clock?"

Draco paused, and took a deep breath as he ran a hand through his soft blonde hair.

"I don't want to tell you this," Draco sighed. "So, just look closer."

Harry took the clock from Draco, and examined it. His face dropped in horror; the clocks two hands that were connected to Molly and Arthur Weasley were clearly, unmistakably, undoubtedly pointed at dead.

"I-I-I" Harry muttered, and he slid his back against the wall, and fell to the floor.

Draco stooped down next to him.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Draco said softly.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. Everything was falling apart around him, his heart had stopped, and Draco just seemed to be a fuzzy outline of a human being.

"It's going to be alright," Harry heard Draco breath into his hair.

He realized that his arms were wrapped around Draco in an embrace, and he was crying.

"How?" Harry whispered. "How can everything be alright?"

His only family was gone; nothing was going to be right again.

Draco stroked his head, whispering to him things he couldn't understand.

Finally, he didn't know how much later, he pulled away from Draco, who kissed his forehead and looked at him with an honest face.

"We'll get them back for this," Draco said sternly. "We'll get revenge Harry."

"Who did this?" Harry said, holding back more tears.

"My father," was Draco's cold answer.

Harry felt ill, he hated Draco's father more then anything.

"Come on Harry," Draco said. "Let's get you back to bed."

"No," Harry shook his head. "I want to play the Games."

"Now?" Draco said, concerned. "You sure?"

"We have to finished soon, Draco," Harry said softly. "We have to destroy Voldemort."

Draco nodded, "Let's go set up."

Draco helped Harry to his feet, and both boys took up a load of candles to the attic.

"Is this safe here?" Harry asked. "I mean, because we're not in the room of magic?"

"It might be a bit more of a bumpy ride," Draco said as he started to place candles around the room. "But it's safe enough."

"Draco," Harry said slowly.

"Yeah, Harry?"

"Never mind," Harry said. "I'll ask during the game."

"You could ask now," Draco said, turning to him. "I won't lie to you."

"I know," Harry said. "But I just can't think of anything else to ask right now."

"Alright," Draco said.

All the candles were quickly lit and the two boys sat in the center of the room, knees touching. They began to concentrate on the white room of truth.

Harry felt himself being lifted off the ground, and then tiny sparks of electricity were hitting his skin; at first, it didn't bother him much, but after a while, it felt like his skin was hit by a ton of little whips, and it hurt, a lot.

When they reached the white room, his skin still stinging in pain, and the cry of the Dragon sounded, and the pain raced across his chest, only this time, the pain felt like a release.

"I'm never going to be used to that," Draco groaned, rubbing his arms.

Draco stood up, and held out a hand for Harry, Harry took it.

"Ask away," Draco said to Harry.

Harry nodded, "What did you mean it would ruin everything if they saw the clock?"

The pain of loosing them came flooding back.

"The Weasley's are connected to all of this, and it would crush them knowing that they're parents are dead. They have to be in the right states of mind for this to work," Draco muttered.

Harry nodded, but he was still confused. _How were they connected? Was this something Ron was keeping from him? The reason Draco was upset when he said he hadn't been talking to Ron?_

"Ron doesn't trust me," Draco said slowly, and Harry didn't know where he was going with this. "Is that because you haven't told him anything that's been happening with the game or the questions?"

"Yes," Harry said solemnly. "Ron and I haven't told each other anything since this summer when his brother visited him."

Draco nodded, looking upset.

"Why does Ron have to trust you?" Harry asked.

"Because of the Prophecy," Draco said slowly. "The prophecy that Ron is connected with is tied to this Game, and if he doesn't trust me, he won't believe it when I tell him I'm on your side."

"Prophecy?" Harry asked. There was a prophecy about Ron?

"It's prophecy about seven children who have inherited special magical qualities that are key to this war," Draco explained.

"You just used your third question," Draco said.

"Oh, sorry, then you get the last two," Harry said quickly.

"I only need one," Draco said. "Go ahead, ask another."

"Is that why your father killed...their parents?" Harry gulped.

"Yes and no; he killed them because they were with two other people in the prophecies; and he killed them because he wants all the Weasley's dead."

"Oh," Harry said, hatred filling him again.

"Will you not tell Ron and the rest about their parents, for me?" Draco asked, practically pleading.

"I..." Harry said, looking into Draco's silver eyes. "I won't, I promise."

"Thanks," Draco said.

A door opened to their far right, and Harry saw it looked awfully dark out there.

"I have another question for you," Harry said. "When we get out of here."

"Okay," Draco nodded.

The two stepped through the door.

They were on a dark swampland, a slight mist covering random places, the grass was dark green, and everything seemed oddly spooky. There were wisps of ghosts, and spirits, and Harry heard cackling coming from a moor in the distance.

"Eerie," Draco muttered.

Harry nodded. He felt sick, sick from crying, sick from the pain in his chest, and sick for abandoning his friends like he had been, and this dark gloomy place only made things seem a lot worse.

From behind them, they heard a little girl's voice.

"Hello," she had a angelic innocent voice.

They turned around to see two twin girls about eight years old, and they were glowing, they both wore identical white gowns full of ribbons and bows, and the only way Harry could tell them apart was both held different objects in there out reaching palms. The girl to his right held a red box, and the girl to his left had a gold box with a big blue ribbon tied around it.

"Hi," Draco said, taken aback.

Harry just stared at the little girls.

"Welcome to level six, dears," said the other girl.

"Only one more level to go," said the other.

"Just one?" Harry said, surprised.

Both girls giggled.

"Shh," said the girl with the red box. "Let us explain."

Harry and Draco went quiet and watched them closely.

"I am Holly," said the girl with the red box.

"I am Sarah," said the other girl.

"We're here to give you two gifts," Holly smiled. "One for each other you."

"One gift is just for you," said Sarah.

"And the other, is a gift to lead you to your next level."

"One is a spell."

"And one is a key."

"The spell is for one of you only," said Sarah.

"And the key will be picked by the one who doesn't get the spell," Holly grinned.

"The question for the spell, is what do you want most right now?" Sarah said.

"Who will answer this question?" Holly asked.

Draco looked at Harry, and Harry looked at him.

"You get the spell, Harry," Draco said softly, taking Harry's arm gently.

"You sure?" Harry asked.

"You need it more then me right now," Draco nodded. "Go ahead."

"Thanks," Harry said, and leaned up and kissed his soft lips.

Holly and Sarah giggled, and Harry pulled away to look at them.

"You two are boys, silly," Holly said, wide-eyed.

"Okay...Awkward," Draco said, staring at them.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said quickly to the girls.

Sarah and Holly tilted their heads and then shrugged.

"Are you ready to answer the question?" Holly asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "The thing I want most right now is to not know about Molly and Arthur's death." Harry looked over to Draco, "So that I can't break my promise, and so that I won't feel like this right now."

Holly nodded, "Alright. I cast upon this spell for you, and it will fade away in three days time."

Holly muttered something, and in a flash, Harry had no memory of their deaths, he only knew that he was in the game with Draco and that there were two girls asking him another question.

"Now which box will you choose," Sarah asked.

"One key will lead you to the world under," Holly said.

"And the other will leave you lost with the ghosts forever," Sarah continued.

"We will give you four clues, and you may ask two questions," Holly explained. "But in this game, one of us lies."

"Typical," Harry muttered, reminded of a fairy tale he had once heard of somewhere.

"The first clue," Holly continued. "Blue is tied to a key hole."

"Second is, red is tied to the center hold," Sarah smiled.

"Thirdly, the red loves the moors," Holly said.

"And finally, the center hold knows no lies." Sarah grinned.

"We have to figure out who's lying," Draco said, looking at them.

"Unless Holly's the one that lies, and she lied to us earlier, but then nobody would lie and that wouldn't make any sense," Harry trailed off.

"Harry," Draco said. "Don't do that. Let's see." Draco paused. "Holly, are you holding the red box?"

The two girls smiled and looked at each other.

"Oh, you're a crafty one," Sarah smiled. "Go ahead, Holly, tell him."

"Yes of course, I'm holding it, can't you see it is so?"

"Okay," Draco said. "Sarah, are you holding the gold box?"

"No," Sarah shook her head, "as you can see it's more then one color, darling."

Draco frowned, "okay...I think Holly is telling the truth, Which means the blue box is right."

"But...She's right, it is more then one color," Harry said, frowning. "And if the center hold does know lies, then technically it would be Holly who would be the liar."

"Harry," Draco said. "You're confusing me."

"I just want us to get this right," Harry said. "We have to think about this from all angles."

"Maybe we go on impulse?" Draco said. "If you can handle that?"

"I-" Harry paused. "Do what you like; you get to pick the box."

"Well, I need your help," Draco sighed. "Red or gold?"

"Umm...red...no gold..." Harry sighed.

"I say gold," Draco said, reaching for it.

The girls were both grinning like mad.

"Are you sure?" Holly asked.

"It could be the wrong box," Sarah smiled.

"Shit!" Draco cursed. "Alright, red, let's go with red."

"Really?" Holly asked.

"Such a brave move," Sarah battered her eyes.

Draco pulled his hand away again.

"Okay," Draco said. "I'll go with red..."

Harry watched Draco snatch the box from her hands.

"Very well," Holly smiled. "We shall meet you at the end of the moor, there you will find the key hole."

The two girls vanished, and Draco started to open the box.

"It's a key," Draco said, lifting up a gold simple key.

"Well," Harry sighed. "Let's get across."

The two headed towards the moor, and they started to feel themselves sinking into the ground.

Harry looked down to see his legs ankle deep in a pool of murky water.

"That's disgusting," Draco grimaced. "These are my best pants."

Harry hid a smile, "Keep moving,"

Harry took his arm and started to move foreword.

From below, a white figured passed through his body, and he felt like he had been dumped in ice water. The figure floated in front of them and crossed it's arms. The ghost was tall, curly-haired, and had on ancient chain mail.

"Turn back," the figure said in an echo-haunting voice.

"Why?" Draco asked, crossing his arms too.

"This way leads to the world under," the ghost said solemnly. "I don't think you wish to head there."

"Actually, we do," Draco said. "So move, because I don't fancy passing through you."

"Why would you want to go to the world under?" the ghost said, appalled.

"We're playing a game," Harry said before Draco could say anything sarcastic.

"Oh," the ghost whispered. "More of your kind."

"I guess," Harry said, confused. "So, if you could like help us or move out of the way-"

"-I have to go," the ghost whispered. "It's coming for you."

The ghost started to float off.

"What's coming?" Harry called after it, but it kept going.

Harry glanced at Draco who was looking around.

"Let's get moving," Draco said hurriedly. "I don't think what's coming is going to want to play tea-party."

Harry nodded, and both started to trudge through the water. The water was getting deeper as they walked.

"Maybe we should try another way," Harry suggested, realizing they'd be swimming soon if the water got any deeper.

"Yea," Draco nodded. "I don't swim."

Harry frowned. "You mean you don't or you can't?"

Draco didn't say anything and turned for another direction.

"I can't really swim either," Harry said slowly.

"Well, let's try this way," Draco said.

They turned to their right, and came upon firm land again. There was a loud cry of something horrifying.

"What was that?" Harry asked, turning wildly about to see anything.

"Harry..." Draco's voice was trembling.

Harry turned to see what Draco was staring at: it was a large beast, foaming at the mouth, big yellow eyes the size of a Bludgers, and long shaggy hair.

"Run!" Harry screamed.

The two boys ran for their lives, weaving in and out of mists because they didn't trust it, and jumping over ditches. They heard the creature behind them snarling, and bounding after them.

Harry felt his leg snap as he fell into a pool of water.

"Shit!" Harry screamed.

Draco who was right next to him, swung around and tried to get him up.

"My foot is stuck!" Harry grumbled.

"Get it unstuck!" Draco said.

The two boys pulled and pulled and finally yanked Harry free. They took off running again and Harry ignored the sharp pain in his foot as he ran.

The creature was closer now, and he could hear its deep breathing.

"Distract it!" Harry said.

"How?" Draco asked, as they continued to run.

"You go that way," Harry said. "Towards that wall and I'll go towards that wall."

"Knock him out?" Draco huffed.

"Yea!"

Draco nodded and the two boys took off in separate directions. The beast followed Draco, and Harry watched in fear as the boy reached the end of the wall, and rushed back towards him. The beast hit the wall in a very loud crash because it couldn't turn quick enough, and it tumbled over itself giving a loud screech as it went.

Draco caught up with him, the two started to run along the wall, and they ran straight into the two girls standing in front of a small gold key hole.

They stopped, and tried to catch their breath.

"Oh...my...God," Draco breathed.

"That was close," Harry grumbled.

The two girls were smiling at them, and Sarah still had the blue box in her hand.

"Try out your key," said Holly.

Draco gave them a glare, and turned the key to the keyhole. Harry held his breath as Draco tried to fit it in, but it wouldn't go. It didn't fit. Draco frowned, and tried again.

"It doesn't fit."


	21. Rationally

Harry groaned. "Try it the other way."

He did, and still, it wouldn't fit inside.

Draco threw his hands on his face and screamed.

"Bloody hell!"

"You lucked out," Sarah said, laughing.

Draco and Harry shot the girls dirty looks.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked, feeling completely helpless.

"Fuck!" Draco shouted.

The girls started to laugh at them.

"Poor lost little boys," Holly said in singsong.

"Now they'll never get out of here alive," Sarah said in chorus.

"I swear if you don't shut up..." Draco shouted at them. Harry saw him narrow in on Sarah's hands, where the box was. "Harry, a moment please."

Draco and Harry moved away from the two girls who just giggled after them.

"Okay, I have a plan," Draco said.

"Yeah?"

"Grab a hold of Holly," Draco said, and he started towards Sarah.

"What?" Harry said, confused.

Draco stopped. "Grab her, and I'll take down the other one."

"She's a little girl...I can't like tackle her," Harry frowned.

"Yes you can! Now go!"

Draco ignored his protests and lunged for Sarah, and Harry had no choice but to throw his arms around Holly.

"Let me go!" Holly said, trying to move away.

Harry didn't let her go, and he looked up to see Draco wrestling with Sarah for the box.

Suddenly he felt Holly's presence vanish from his arms, and he looked down to see the girl had disappeared.

"What the..." Draco said, as Sarah disappeared as well, and he was attacking nothing at all.

Draco pulled out his wand as he scrambled to his feet, looking around.

"Where'd they go?" Draco asked.

"Over there," Harry answered.

The two little girls were smiling just a few feet behind them.

"They're messing with us, Draco, we need to plan this rationally," Harry said.

"Rationally?" Draco grumbled. "I say I curse them and see what happens."

"Well, you could do that," Harry said. "But I think we should look for an alternative."

"Like what?"

"Like you calming down for a moment," Harry insisted.

Draco paused, and took a deep breath.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked.

Draco sighed. "I dunno. This just reminds me so much of all the tests my dad has put me through; he'd get pissed if I stopped a moment to think, I'm supposed to be quick on my feet."

"You are," Harry said. "But this is a different sort of test, this one if we don't use our heads we wind up dead."

"I know," Draco sighed. "Alright, you say we need an alternative; we could try talking to them."

"We can try," Harry said, doubting it would work.

The two boys advanced towards the girls.

"You're mean!" Sarah said to them as they approached.

"You ought to be better losers," Holly grumbled. "It's not the first time anyone has failed to get the right key."

"Can we negotiate for the key?" Draco asked.

"Negotiate?" Sarah laughed. "After you just attacked me?"

"I don't think so!" Holly said, sternly. "Go away, and enjoy your last few days of life."

"We're not going to die in here," Harry told her.

"Oh, silly, silly boy," Holly shook her head. "Of course you are."

"I don't think you heard me," Harry said again. "We're not going to die in here."

Holly narrowed her eyes, and Draco glanced at him.

"I believe you've done enough talking," Sarah grumbled. "Go away."

"Leave us the key and we will," Harry said.

"You're very determined," Holly smiled. "Sarah, what do you say to playing a little game?"

"What sort of game, Holly?" Sarah taunted, not taking her eyes off Harry.

"Me against this one," Holly said, glaring at Harry.

"Or me against this one?" Sarah said, turning to Draco.

"What sort of game?" Harry asked.

"Shh!" Holly hushed. "A race through the swamp maze."

"I'll take her on," Draco spoke up.

"You sure?" Harry asked.

Sarah nodded, "Then he and I shall enter the maze, and whoever comes out alive is the victor."

"Deal," Draco said. "Let's go."

"Draco," Harry said, eyes pleading. "Be careful, alright."

Draco nodded, "I will, Harry."

Sarah smiled and led Draco away, leaving Harry behind with Holly; she looked up at him, her eyes wide and face blank.

"Want to have a little fun?" Holly said, a broad grin beginning to spread across her face.

Harry frowned, and realized that something was snaking up his legs. He looked down to see vines creeping up him, pulling him down, a jolt of fear rushed through him, as he tried desperately to break free.

Holly bent over him as he struggled.

"Do you scream, Harry?"

---

Draco had just entered another so-called "arena" of the swamp, and as Sarah said "on your mark, get set, go!" both took off, on a search for the gold box.

There was a lot more fog towards this area of the swamp, and a lot more water. He couldn't make out much, except the glow around Sarah.

He could very easily do as his father had taught him, curse the girl, and take the key. But just because he could, didn't mean he should. Harry wouldn't approve, and a thought had also crossed his mind that any spell probably wouldn't work on this girl.

Draco caught up to the girl, who was walking calmly through the swamp, as if she wasn't racing anyone.

"I could let you win if I wanted to," Sarah said with a smile.

"Oh could you?" Draco said. "Why don't you let me then?"

"Because," the girl shrugged. "I could win if I wanted to too, right now in fact."

"Why don't you do that either?"

"Because it's fun to see you scurry," Sarah smiled.

"Of course," Draco rolled his eyes.

"You know, you won't be able to find the key unless I want you too," Sarah said, her voice grim.

"Well," Draco sighed. "Are you going to tell me how to get the key from you?"

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Brilliant," Draco said. "What?"

"Will you kill me?"

---

Harry had been lying on the ground for what seemed like ages, the vines digging into his legs, and arms as it tightened around him. And Holly, who was no longer a little girl, but a demon, a little red ferocious looking demon that had been torturing him slowly. He had small cuts across his body; and a large bruise on his forearm.

The Holly demon was peering down at him, holding a flame in her hand.

"You like fire?" the demon asked him.

Harry didn't respond; if he didn't say anything then the demon took longer to attack.

"Come now," the demon muttered.

Harry heard a low buzzing noise, and Holly quickly turned back into the angelic looking girl that she was before and the vines disappeared off Harry.

Harry picked himself off the ground, and noticed that the cuts were gone, well, not the giant x across his chest, but just the little things that Holly had done to him.

"Harry," Draco was calling him.

Harry looked up disoriented, to see a fazed looking Draco coming towards him with a key in hand.

The two boys didn't need to tell each other to go, they just went, taking each other's hand without a word; both thinking about what had happened in silence.

_Draco would be proud of me_, Harry thought, _I didn't scream._

And Draco's thoughts were quite the opposite, feeling like he had betrayed Harry somehow.

_She asked me too, _Draco told himself. _She was being held captive. _

Draco shot back a menacingly look to Holly, who just stared back at him, blanked faced, as if she knew what he had done to it's slave sister.

Draco put the key into the lock, they were engulfed in a bright flash of white, and they landed back in the attic of Grimmauld Place.

---

Harry stared at Draco, and Draco stared at Harry, both were in silence for a moment.

"I'm glad you came back." Harry finally broke the quiet.

Draco nodded, "Me too."

Harry needed to talk to Lupin again, he had to sort things out without loosing his head; he glanced at his watch, it was three in the afternoon.

"They're going to be wondering where we are," Harry said.

"Of course they are," Draco said dryly.

Harry and Draco made their way downstairs and found Hermione and Ginny talking on a couch, the two girls looked up at them.

"Hello," Ginny said, a hint of teasing in her voice. "Where have you two been off to?"

Harry just shook his head, "Nowhere."

Hermione looked at them, "In the attic?"

"Yeah," Harry shrugged. "Where are the others?"

"Ron, Bill, and Percy are talking up in your room," Ginny said. "And Fleur, Tonks and Lupin are in the kitchen."

Harry turned to Draco, "Hey, could you entertain yourself for a while? I need to talk with Lupin again."

Draco paused for a moment, "Yeah, alright." Draco nodded, then paused, "What should I do?"

Harry grinned, "Talk with these two."

Hermione shrugged, "As long as we keep things civil then I'm fine."

"Okay," Draco said, and then lowered his voice to Harry, "Just don't take to long."

Harry left the room and entered the kitchen where he found Lupin, Tonks and Fleur.

"'Ello, 'Arry," Fleur greeted as he came in.

"Hi," Harry said, "Hey Tonks, Lupin."

Harry turned his attention on Lupin who nodded.

"Have a seat Harry," Tonks said, encouraging. "I hear Lupin gave you a hard time last night."

Harry sat, and didn't say anything.

"I didn't mean to put that much pressure on you, Harry," Lupin sighed. "It's just, things are getting out of hand; people are dying, and there's just so much to cover that we need someone to give us direction; I thought you were ready for it-"

"-I'm not yet," Harry said. "But I will be soon."

Lupin nodded.

"Hey!" Bill said, coming into the Kitchen. "Has anyone seen my mum's clock?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Kreacher probably stole it," Lupin sighed. "That or Mundungus."

"Kreacher was here a month or so ago," Harry said, just as confused as the rest of them, the spell had clearly worked the way it was supposed, and Harry couldn't remember a thing about the clock or the details surrounding it.

"Well," Fleur sighed. "We most certainly will not be getting any 'Ouse Elves if zis is how zay act."

Bill grinned at her, "Not all House Elves are like Kreacher, darling."

Fleur made a tutting sound, and Bill laughed.

"Oh, Harry, your guest appears to be getting hammered with questions in there," Bill said, turning to him. "You might want to go rescue him."

"Oh, no," Harry said, leaving the room.

He found Ron, Hermione, and Ginny talking to an annoyed looking Draco.

"I did not!" Draco said, "I only dated Pansy!"

"What's going on in here?" Harry asked.

Ron looked up as if Harry was accusing him.

"I wasn't doing it mate!" Ron said quickly. "It was all Ginny."

Ginny blushed, "I was keeping it civil...I just asked him how many girls he dated."

"She accused me of shagging half the girls in Slytherin," Draco grumbled.

Harry hid a grin.

"Well," Harry said. "Let's stop the twenty questions, shall we?"

"Yes please," Draco said. "Or we could turn the twenty questions onto you, Weasley," Draco said to Ron.

Ron looked puzzled, "Let's not."

Harry assumed he said this to make him remember about the Prophecy; but he hadn't forgotten, and he hadn't forgotten about how much he had been neglecting his friend.

"Okay, here's the question for you Ron," Harry said slowly. "What exactly does that Prophecy say about you?"

Both Ron and Ginny shot nervous and confused looks at him.

"Shh!" Ginny said quickly, and Harry was reminded of Holly, he twitched a little. "Percy is still around; if he hears you talking about that we'll be killed!"

So Percy was the one who had told them about the Prophecy.

Hermione shook her head, "Percy left, he apparated when you and Bill came out here."

"Oh," Ron said, breathing a sigh of relief. "How do you know about the Prophecy, Harry?"

Harry looked at Draco, and then back at Ron, "Draco."

Ron's eyes flashed to Draco, "How do _you_ know about the Prophecy?"

Actually, that was a very good question, Harry thought. Draco just shrugged.

Harry frowned then turned back to Ron, "What did the Prophecy say?"

Ron took a moment, as the two boys stared at each other; realizing just how much hadn't been said over the last few months.

Finally, Ron started to explain to Harry all about the prophecy, and the reason's why Ron had been avoiding Hermione in the hospital wing became clear, and the reason Ginny had been avoiding him… Ron's power was to enhance people's thoughts, and Ginny's was to read them.

"My God," Harry said.

Draco and Hermione had stayed quiet during their discussion.

"I know, right?" Ron said, pushing a hand through his hair.

Hermione rubbed his shoulder, trying to make him feel better.

Fleur stepped into the room,

"Excuse me, but could I borrow Ron and Ginny for a moment, we need 'elp in zee kitchen."

"Sure," Ginny said.

Ron stared at Harry for a moment, then nodded as well.

"I'll talk with you later, Harry," Ron said, standing to leave.

Harry was left alone with Hermione and Draco, who were staring at him.

"It's about time you asked about that," Hermione said softly.

Draco looked at her, "I was just going to say the same thing."

Harry didn't know what to say; and he felt a little self-conscious.

"Did you guys get together that Hogsmead weekend you tried to get rid of me?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Oh," Hermione turned slightly red. "Yes."

Harry noticed Draco signaling with his eyes to leave the room; Harry thought for a moment, and knew this was his chance. 'First,' he mouthed to him 'we tell her.' Draco stared at him for a moment, and then turned to Hermione who was looking at them suspiciously.

"Harry, what was that about?"

"I have something to tell you."

Draco stood up, and to Harry's surprise, sat next to him.

Hermione's eyes darted between the two of them.

"Yeah..." Hermione said.

"I'm dating, Draco," Harry said, holding his breath.

To his surprise, Hermione didn't have the same look as Ginny did; in fact, she looked like she had known all along.

_Of course,_ Harry thought. _Trust Hermione to have figured it out._

Hermione started to giggle, and she put a hand to her mouth and she fell over laughing.

Both boys stared at her, unsure on what to say.

When Hermione got a grip, she took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to say something and burst into a fit of laughter again.

"Hermione, what are you laughing about?" Harry said, giving a small laugh.

Draco frowned. "Yeah, Granger, do tell."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, calming herself. "It was just the surprise on your face when I didn't react the way you expected...Harry, Ginny told me this morning, and I guessed something was going on, especially with you two disappearing all the time."

"So, you don't...care?" Harry asked slowly.

"Of course not, Harry," Hermione said. "I support you, even if you make weird decisions."

"Hey!" Draco said. "Weird good or weird bad?"

"Just weird in general," Hermione said. "You can like whoever; I can't stop you, and I shouldn't."

"Thanks," Harry said.

"You might want to try a better approach in telling, Ron, though," Hermione said. "He'd have a heart attack if you told him the way you just told me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry said.

"Oh, let's do it," Draco said excitedly. "Come on, it'll be amusing, the look on his face. And then I can kiss you-"

"-Draco," Harry said warningly, but he was smiling. "No."

Draco groaned, but shrugged it off.

There was a call from the kitchen that Harry couldn't make out.

"Come on," Draco said.

Harry paused, "Huh?"

"Before they come and nab us, let's have some alone time," Draco said, tugging Harry up.

Hermione stared at them for a moment, "I'll cover, I guess."

"Thanks," Harry said, smiling.

They heard footsteps coming, and Draco and Harry rushed out of the room.

"Come on!" Draco urged him, whispering as he tugged on Harry's hand.

The two boys quickly ducked into a spare family-like-room and Draco muttered a spell that locked the door behind them.

The two boys laughed, and pulled each other to the center of the room.

"Alone at last, Harry," Draco said in a semi-dramatic tone, laughing.

Harry laughed and kissed him quickly, "Thank God!"

"Did you know..." Draco said, taking Harry's hand and heading him towards a couch. "That I think you should give me a back massage."

"You think that, do you?" Harry asked, laughing as Draco laid his chest. "What's in it for me?"

"Oh, I could think of a few things," Draco said tauntingly.

Harry's face turned red as his stomach flip-flopped.

"Pretty please," Draco batted his eyes. "Come on, you know I don't like to beg."

Harry laughed and moved towards Draco, "No, you just want to get things your way."

Draco smiled, and his heart fluttered like mad.

"Be captivated by my beauty later." Draco grinned. "Massage now please."

Harry chuckled.

"Off with your shirt then," Harry said.

Draco gave him a sly smile, "You just want to see my body."

Harry shrugged, "You want a massage we'll have to compromise."

Draco sat up and pulled off his shirt, and Harry caught a quick glimpse of the X across Draco's chest before he lay down again.

"I dunno if I'm any good at this," Harry said, as he straddled the boys lower back.

"Give it a go, and we'll see," Draco said.

So Harry started to rub Draco's shoulders and a few moments later Draco slid out from underneath Harry and stood up.

"Okay, that's it!" Draco said. "Take off your shirt and lay down."

"What?"

"I'm going to show you how to do this properly."

Harry, embarrassed took off his shirt and lay on his chest on the couch. He felt Draco's warm body around his hops, and Draco's fingers touch his shoulders. A shiver shot down Harry's body.

Harry relaxed as Draco moved his hands along Harry's back, it felt really nice.

"How's that?" Draco asked.

"Mmm," was Harry's peaceful reply.

Draco chuckled, "Good."

Draco's fingers slid down next to his stomach and made a fluttery motion.

"Hey!" Harry said, turning over so Draco would stop tickling him.

Draco smiled and placed his hands on either side of Harry's shoulders, and bent down to kiss him.

Harry drew him in, wrapping his arms around Draco's neck. Draco leaned down, against Harry, moving his hand across Harry's chest. Every touch was like sparks of electricity running through him, everything was so right, and nothing mattered...

A knock came at the door, knocking Harry out of his peace, and Harry and Draco pulled apart.

"And thus concludes our alone time," Draco said, moving off Harry and retrieving his shirt.

The knock came again.

"Harry," it was Hermione.

"Just a minute," Harry shouted and grabbed his shirt from the ground and pulled it over his head.

"Dinner's ready," Hermione called, from out the door. "Come down when you're ready."

Hermione's footsteps died away.

"Oh, she so thinks we're naked," Draco said, laughing.

"Shut it," Harry laughed.

He headed for the door and Draco made a loud clearing of his throat sound.

"Harry, your shirt, darling," Draco winked, opened the door, and left.

Harry looked down to see his shirt was put on backwards; he quickly pulled his arms in and turned it around, and went to join everyone in the dining room, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.


	22. Fix It

Dinner had finished, and everyone was cleaning up their plates.

"We'll clean up the rest guys," Tonks said, indicating to Lupin and herself.

They all agreed, and Harry and Draco started towards Draco's room.

"Where are you two going?" Ron asked, watching them suspiciously, as he held onto Hermione's hand.

Draco opened his mouth to say something, and Harry quickly beat him to the punch.

"We're going to talk," Harry said.

"Talk, Harry?" Ginny said, grinning

Hermione couldn't resist suppressing a smile as well.

"Yeah, _talk_ Weasel, not everything is about sex," Draco said.

"What?" Ron let out. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, Ron," Hermione said, smiling. "Malfoy's just being a twit."

Hermione led Ron away, and Ginny followed after them.

"Yeah, a twit" Harry said, lightly punching Draco in the arm.

"Sorry," Draco said, grinning. "That was funny though."

"A bit," Harry said. "Now let's go talk."

At that last word, Draco muttered grimly, "Too bad we're actually talking."

Harry smiled; they entered Draco's room, and shut the door.

Draco collapsed onto his bed, giving a huge sigh, and sat back up to look at Harry; he patted his bed.

Harry joined him on the bed and the two boys laid side-by-side, staring up at the ceiling.

"What was in that letter? The one you had this morning?" Harry asked.

Draco turned on his side, so he was facing Harry.

"I can't tell you," Draco sighed, remembering how Harry had broken down in the hallway early that morning. "Please don't be mad at me."

Harry rolled to his side as well, so he was eye-level with him, and his hair fell into his eyes, "I'm not."

Draco gave him a tiny smile; regretting what he had to tell him next, "I have to go home tomorrow."

"You what?" Harry asked, wide-eyed. "You said you'd be here for a few day at least, what happened to that?"

The disappointment in Harry's voice rang clear, and Draco knew exactly how he felt, because he was feeling the same way.

"I don't want to go," Draco said sincerely. "Something's come up, and I have to take care of it before it gets out of hand."

"That's not fair," Harry groaned.

A feeling of warmth washed over Draco; Harry wanted him, probably as much as he wanted Harry.

"I know," Draco said, gently stroking Harry's face. "I'll be back before you know it."

"How long do you think – till you come back?" Harry asked.

"I dunno," Draco said, Harry's face fell. "I can't make you any promises, because I don't want to get your hopes up."

Harry nodded, his green eyes glistening.

"Maybe you can stay in here tonight?" Draco asked hopefully, his eyes watching Harry's. "Nothing provocative...I just want to be near you."

Harry's eyes were calculating, and Draco wanted him to answer.

"Alright," Harry said.

"Great," Draco said, relieved. "You're not going to sneak in here in the middle of the night to escape Weasley catching you, are you? Because if you are, then we have to come up with something creative."

"Huh?" Harry said, watching him closely.

Draco wanted to mess with him, because it was fun in his opinion.

"How about code-names," Draco grinned. "You'll have to be Nighthawk."

"I...uh-" Harry frowned. "Nighthawk?"

Draco grinned, "Yeah. What you don't like it?"

"Oh, it's smashing," Harry said, sarcasm dripping from each word. "And you'll be Storm."

"What kind of code-name is Storm?" Draco asked, appalled.

"The kind that names me Nighthawk," Harry's eyes danced with laughter. "But really, I don't think I'm really going to sneak in. I'll just not go to my room; he'll never notice."

"Sounds like a decent plan...Nighthawk," Draco mocked.

Harry screwed up his face in protest, "Don't call me that."

Draco laughed, and opened his mouth to say it again, but Harry caught on quick and snatched up a pillow, hitting him with it.

Draco fended him off, laughing, "Stop. You'll mess up my hair."

Harry had a wild look in his eye, "Oh will I?" Harry tossed the pillow and pounced Draco, ruffling his hair; Draco protested, but it was too late, his hair was a mess.

"That's better," Harry smiled, pulling away from him.

Draco pouted, "Fix it."

"Nah-uh," Harry said, grinning like mad.

"Fine," Draco said, trying to rearrange his hair.

Harry slinked up behind him, placing his arms around his waist, and Draco stopped caring about his hair completely.

He turned around, kissing Harry fiercely on the mouth, and pulled him down on top of him as they fell into a pile of pillows.

All Draco wanted was for Harry to be as close as possible, as their mouth met eagerly, Harry's hands roaming his body. Their breathing grew heavy, and as they grew exhausted, sleep came over them and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

---

They awoke very late the next morning – or at least, late for Harry and Draco's standards. Harry was the first to stir; he felt Draco's body lying next to him, and the boys light breath against his face.

"Draco," Harry muttered, searching for his glasses – which surprisingly were the only article he had lost in the madness of last night. He found them at the bottom of the bed, and he slid out of Draco's grasp to get them.

Draco stirred awake because of Harry's movement.

"Huh?" Draco said sleepily, his eyes fluttering open.

"Morning," Harry said, sliding next to him again, with his glasses secured.

"Morning," Draco said.

He pulled him closer, and kissed him quickly, and then put his head on Harry's shoulder.

Harry thought about resting his eyes again, but then he noticed the time, it was 11:32.

"Draco, what time are you supposed to leave?" Harry asked softly.

"'bout one," Draco said lazily.

"We should get up then," Harry said, stroking the boys hair.

"Uhm," Draco said.

"It's already eleven-thirty," Harry said.

"Ugh," Draco groaned, slowly sitting up, stretching, and then the boy looked mortified, "Oh you've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Harry asked, sitting up as well.

"I slept in my clothes," Draco grumbled.

"You are so vain," Harry said half-jokingly.

Draco tilted his head towards him for a moment, "These are silk, they wrinkle."

"I'm sure they do," Harry said, smiling.

Draco stared at him again, "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Harry asked confused.

"See past all the little things?" Draco muttered. "Make me see past all the little things."

Harry shrugged, unsure of what to say, "It's just clothing."

Draco shook his head, "Whatever you say, Harry."

Harry soon went to get into the shower, and Draco started up to the attic to pick up the candles.

Harry then went to organize his homework load for vacation as Draco went to take his shower.

"Your shampoo smells really good," Draco said, coming out of the bathroom fully dressed.

Harry looked up at him, placing away his books; Draco looked gorgeous standing there, with damp unbrushed hair, and he immediately realized he didn't want Draco to leave yet, things had just started to get interesting between them.

"I don't want you to leave yet," Harry said his thoughts aloud.

Draco sighed, "I know, Harry. Come here."

Harry did, and Draco folded his arms around Harry's neck, staring at him honestly.

"I'll be thinking of you the whole time, alright?" Draco whispered to him.

"Alright," Harry whispered back, knowing that he'd be thinking of Draco the whole time he was gone as well.

Harry kissed him tenderly, breathing in Draco's scent, which was normal except for the hint of apple shampoo.

"Mr. Malfoy have you seen..." the voice dropped silent.

Harry and Draco pulled apart to see Lupin, who was staring at him in shock – but the only thought that went through Harry's head was: _Why do people keep interrupting us, damn it?_

"I, uh-" Lupin looked away; clearly embarrassed for barging in, and completely in shock with who Harry was kissing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...erm...interrupt..."

Harry was reminded of the day he had walked in on Tonks and Lupin, though that was probably a lot less awkward.

"It's okay," Harry said, pretending like it didn't matter.

"Have I seen what?" Draco asked just a smoothly.

Lupin stared at Harry for a moment, with his mouth open, "I was just looking for Harry...Lunch is up..."

"Alright," Harry said nodding.

"Right," Lupin said, flustered and left out the door.

"Perfect timing," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"They always do," Draco's tone annoyed. "Are you going to explain anything to him?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "Eventually."

Draco nodded, "Well, lunch time Harry."

The two boys joined everyone in the dining room; and Bill and Fleur came in with sandwiches and salads.

"Dig in," Bill said.

Harry filled his plate with potato and fruit salad.

"Percy says he's going to drop by again soon," Bill told Lupin. "He just won't take 'I don't have it,' as a reason to leave it alone."

"Do you still have the book Ginny?" Lupin asked her.

Harry had no idea what they were talking about.

"Oh," Ginny said, setting her fork down. "Yes."

"Well, keep it hidden," Bill said grudgingly. "Perce isn't getting that back; we deserve to know what it says.

"What says?" Harry finally spoke up.

Everyone turned to him as if they were surprised he didn't know what they were talking about, - well everyone but Draco, but he didn't seem as confused as Harry did.

"The prophecy book, Harry," Hermione answered for them.

"Percy stole it, and he's after us so he can return it before he looses his job," Ron said as he loaded his plate with a few ham sandwiches.

"Don't you have another brother?" Draco spoke up.

Harry looked at him confused; Draco's voice had seemed oddly directed, as if he was aiming to find out something specific.

"Yeah," Bill said. "Charlie."

"Where's he in all of this?" Draco asked. "Shouldn't he be back here to baby-sit you lot?"

"He's up in Liverpool, some meeting about his work in Romania," Bill said.

"Dragons?" Draco said, now less interested.

"Yeah," Bill nodded.

Harry felt Lupin's eyes fall on him for a moment, and then move away; Harry had decided he'd talk to Lupin when Draco had left. He still had no idea when he'd talk to Ron about it though.

After lunch, Draco prepared to leave – Lupin was going to take him down to the Leaky Cauldron because Draco told him it wasn't safe for him to apparate. Harry wasn't sure if this was because Draco had failed his apparating test or because it was genuinely unsafe.

Harry was about to ask him what was up at lunch, when Draco spoke first.

"Can I ask you to do me a favor while I'm gone?" Draco asked in a whisper.

He was whispering because Ron, Ginny and Hermione were nearby playing a magical card game.

"Sure," Harry said. "What?"

"Talk to Lupin about getting people prepared for war," Draco said, staring at him intently. "If you give the word, they need to all be ready to appear by your side immediately."

Harry paused; from the tone in Draco's voice, he could tell a battle was coming fast.

"Can you do that for me?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, I can," Harry said.

"Thanks," Draco said in a velvet whisper. "I'll be back in a few days."

Harry nodded, and then Harry looked awkwardly from Ron to Draco. Giving Draco just a hug goodbye didn't really seem like the sort of thing he wanted to part on; Draco had the same thought apparently, because he pulled Harry closer to kiss him.

And Harry completely forgot about being discrete around Ron. He kissed Draco deeply, not wanting to let go.

When they pulled apart, he heard a strangled choke from Ron at the table, who had apparently seen them. But Harry didn't look at Ron yet, because he was watching Draco leave; he gave a small wave as Draco left out the front door where Lupin was waiting.

His stomach turned in fear and loss as he turned back to face Ron. There were cards littering the ground because Ron had dropped them in shock, and Ron was still staring at Harry.

Finally Ron spoke, "What was that?"

Harry sighed, "I didn't mean for you to find out like that Ron."

"What was that?" Ron repeated.

"Erm," Harry said, unsure what was going on in his best friends mind. "A kiss."

Ron didn't say anything else for a moment as he processed it.

"Are you _dating _him?" Ron asked, his voice oddly calm, but Harry could tell this was a façade.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, still feeling oddly nervous. What he wanted more then anything was for Ron to approve.

"I see," Ron said. "Harry?"

"Yeah, Ron?" Harry asked slowly.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Again, Ron's voice was eerily calm, even though his words were not.

"Nothing is wrong with me," Harry said, frowning.

"Oh for goodness sakes Ron!" Ginny finally let out. "Just tell him what you're thinking! You're driving me insane."

Hermione went to Ron, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"How come_ they_ don't seem so surprised to see you kiss _him?" _

"Because I told them already," Harry said honestly.

"Oh," Ron said.

"Ron, I really like him, please don't be upset," Harry said, pleading in his eyes.

"Why would I be upset?" Ron asked a hint of anger in his voice.

Harry saw Ginny motion to Hermione to leave; Hermione nodded, and the two girls left them alone, and still Ron didn't raise his voice.

"You're gay?" Ron asked. "How did I miss the signs?"

Harry could tell that was meant to be sarcasm, but Ron's calm tone threw it off.

"I just like him, alright?" Harry said.

"Yeah, alright," Ron nodded.

Harry wanted to know what was going on in Ron's head; he wanted to know so badly that he actually shouted out the question.

"What are you thinking right now? Why aren't you freaking out or doing something?"

Harry didn't know why the question had exploded from his head like that, and he realized Ron had something to do with it, because the second he said the question, the urge to ask it died down, and it seemed like something he should only say in his head.

"That's all your thinking?" Ron asked. "What I think of all this?"

Ron had used his magic on him.

"Well, yeah, Ron," Harry said. "It's a big deal."

"Clearly not a big enough deal to tell me when it started," Ron growled, now there was tension in his voice. "How long has this been going on? Since the summer? Since that letter? Before?"

"Excuse me Mr. I'm-Not-Going-To-Tell-You-About-Anything-Either, I wouldn't be talking," Harry hissed. "And we've only been dating for a few days, since that morning before breakfast actually."

Harry immediately regretted snapping at Ron; yes, it was true that both of them had been deliberately not talking with each other, but he didn't mean to rub his face in it, but clearly it seemed Ron didn't mind.

"Oh really?" Ron asked. "Just a few days is it? You've been running off to see him since we got back to school!"

"Ron!" Harry said, aggravated. "Are you mad because I didn't tell you? Or mad because I'm dating Draco Malfoy?"

"A little bit of both, actually," Ron said, glaring. "Because he's _Malfoy!_ We hate Malfoy! You cannot be dating him! He's awful, and rude, and vile and-"

"And he makes me happy Ron!" Harry shouted. "At least your sister understands that."

"My sister doesn't know what she's talking about."

"She knows very well what she's talking about," Harry insisted.

"What does this have to do with Ginny?" Ron asked.

"I dunno," Harry said, frowning.

They were fighting just in spite of fighting, mostly because there was so much tension between them.

"Right," Ron said. "Damn it, Harry! I hate Malfoy; he's never been nice to me, not even when he is dating you."

"Ron," Harry sighed. "I really want you to be okay with it."

"Why?" Ron asked. "You don't care what I think anyway."

"I was going to tell you," Harry sighed. "I just didn't want you to react like...well...I thought you were going to react a little differently then this-"

"Look, I don't care if you're dating a guy, that's fine as long as you don't go all snog happy on me. I do however care that it's with Malfoy, because the guys a git, and you deserve tons better. And I care that you didn't tell me!"

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"It's okay," Ron sighed. "We've both been stupid lately."

"Yeah, we have," Harry agreed.

There was a short pause as both boys grew calmer, and the tension died down. Ron looked up at Harry with an odd look.

"Malfoy?" Ron asked, sounding like when he told Ginny.

"Yeah, Draco," Harry said.

"You sure, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I'm sure, Ron," Harry said simply.

Ron nodded and the two sat in silence.

---

For the next two days, Harry did as Draco asked and told Lupin about getting the Order ready for battle; after of course he talked to Lupin about what had happened with him and Draco – Lupin didn't freak out like Ron did, which was a relief.

He also talked to Ron about getting along with Draco, because he planned to have him around for a long time; Ron told him it wasn't likely, but he'd try to be civil with Malfoy.

On the third day, at about six in the morning, Harry awoke in a cold sweat, because of the memories of the night in the hall with Draco.

The clock. Molly and Arthur dead. Lucius killed them. It all flooded back to him; and this time Draco wasn't there to support him. Harry couldn't get to sleep for the rest of the day, and he barely spoke, for fear of breaking down again. He wanted Draco to hold him again, to be near him, but that wasn't possible.

On the fifth day, Harry was missing Draco like mad; every free moment he had not discussing plans with Lupin was spent on Draco.

Hermione and Ron tried to keep him preoccupied, Hermione with homework, and Ron with wizard's chess; but Ginny left him well enough alone after she explained to him that she still hadn't managed to control her magic, especially around him.

Being around the Weasley's made everything much harder to cope with, because he wasn't allowed to tell them, he had to keep his promise, no matter how much speculation they started to have on Molly and Arthur's whereabouts. It hurt, and yet he couldn't tell anyone about it.

It was late afternoon, when Harry sat down on the couch to escape from Hermione and Ron's chess match. A loud knock came at his door.

Harry opened the door to find Draco standing in his doorway with a badly beaten up Charlie Weasley.

_**Author's Message:**_

_** Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter.  
**_


	23. Trust

Draco was relieved to see it was Harry who opened the door; he had missed him a lot, and it looked like Harry had had his share of problems during Draco's absence.

"What happened?" Harry asked, helping them inside.

"He was attacked," Draco said.

"Harry," Charlie said. "They know about the prophecy."

"Of course they know about the prophecy," Draco growled.

Harry stared at him confused, and Draco knew he'd need to explain - but later in the game, because they needed to get a move on if they were going to keep Draco's appointments he had made.

"Get someone quickly. We need to finish the last level," Draco said.

"Alright," Harry said, and hurried off.

Draco laid the bruised Charlie Weasley on the couch, and quickly went upstairs to the attic to set up.

The war was coming soon, and after it was done, he'd be able to relax, with Harry by his side - that sounded like a nice idea.

Harry came into the attic, and looked at him questionably.

"Get in and I'll explain,' Draco said.

"Didn't you forget something?" Harry asked silkily.

"Huh?" Draco asked.

"Welcome back," Harry said softly, and kissed him.

Draco pulled him closer, having missed Harry for the past few days he easily lost sight of what was supposed to be happening. Draco snapped out of it when Harry's started to lift up his shirt.

"Harry," Draco said, pulling away reluctantly. "I'd really love to do this making-out thing, but we have some appointments we can't be late for."

"Right," Harry said. "Game first."

Draco nodded; forcing his hands off Harry, and sitting down. Harry joined him.

"Ready?" Draco whispered, more to himself then to Harry.

"Ready," Harry said.

A thousands whips piecing his skin as if each impact was pulling up flesh and digging into bone, Draco clenched his teeth, and held his eyes shut as they traveled to the Dragon Games. The flash of white and he was in the white room again.

The cry of the Dragon, and the last time he'd ever have to face the searing pain on his chest.

Harry stared at him, mouth opened, clearly uncertain by which question he should be asking first.

Draco sighed, "Charlie was attacked by Bellatrix Lestrange."

Harry's face flashed in a moment of hatred.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because my father told her to," Draco paused. "My dad knows about the Seven Mages of Fire – that's the Prophecy about the Weasley's. They were afraid that the Weasley's were going to be the ones who would defeat Voldemort in this war. I had to convince my dad that they were part of my plan, and that they would be worth the risk."

"What?" Harry said bewildered.

"I made a deal with my dad; I had to push this war closer then I aimed to, so I'd please him, and then he told me if I wanted to save Charlie I'd have to go stop Bellatrix before she murdered him," Draco said, taking a breath. "When I found him, he was nearly beaten to death, I've put a few healing charms on him, but that's all I could do."

"How do the Weasley's fit into the war?" Harry asked.

"They're the key to making our weapon work," Draco said, staring straight into Harry's tired green eyes. "Their powers will control Voldemort just long enough for our weapon of choice to destroy him."

"Oh," Harry said, looking down.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Draco asked.

Harry shook his head a little, "This is all a little much; I haven't been able to stop thinking about _their _death, or you for what seems like ages. I just feel so far away from here, from my life."

Draco nodded, "Anything I can do?"

"Promise me everything is going to turn out alright," Harry said shakily.

"I can't do that," Draco said. "But I can promise you I'll try like hell to make sure it does."

Harry smiled, "Alright."

"Now, last question," Draco said, staring at him. "Is yours."

Even though Harry had already asked three, Draco wanted Harry to be the last one to ask anything.

"Do you believe in true love?"

"No."

A flash of disappointment and fear across Harry's face.

"But I believe in you."

Draco didn't believe in the whole "true love" or "soul mate" nonsense, mostly because he had seen his father with his mother, she called him her one true love, and Draco just couldn't understand that...But maybe he was beginning too.

Harry's eyes flashed full of longing, and Draco kissed his cheek tenderly as a door opened at the other end. He took Harry's hand and led him towards it.

"Welcome to the World Under, Gamers," the dragon's voice echoed.

They were definitely in some sort of hell layer in the earth; everything glowed a fiery red, it was intensely hot and there were only long canyon walls surrounded by pits of flames.

"I'm sure you've heard many dragon tales in your time," the Dragon continued. "But if you haven't, I will now explain. You must seek me here in my lair; I guard your treasure, and do not intend to give it up. Death is the only option, you must be slain, or I shall be. If you prevail, you will be given your long deserved reward, if you fail, then you will just become fuel for my fire. Your hunt begins now."

---

Hermione's chess skills were not up to par, and Ron was winning his sixth game in a row.

"And check, and mate," Ron said, grinning. "Another for me Hermione."

Hermione scrunched up her nose at him, but shrugged, "This game is just brutal, I don't like it."

"That's because you're no good," Ron said, giving her a smile.

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but his smile threw her off.

The two jumped when they heard a knock on their door.

"Oh, come in," Hermione said.

To their surprise, Percy, Bill, Charlie and Ginny all entered their room. Charlie looked a little exhausted and Percy looked flaming mad.

"What's going on?" Ron asked. "Charlie, what are you doing here?"

"Draco Malfoy brought me here," he said slowly, his voice tired. "He saved my life."

"He what?" Ron said shocked.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, very concerned. "Who attacked you?"

"Someone who knows about the Prophecy," Percy growled. "Hermione, I need to borrow Ron for a while. We have to go to Diagon Alley for a bit."

"What for?" Ron asked.

"I have a guy who's going to talk to us about getting protection, and I want to talk about getting that Prophecy back, because I know one of you has it!" Percy hissed.

"Alright," Ron said, glancing at Hermione. "But Hermione can't be left here alone, and Lupin and Tonks are out on Order business."

"Why the bloody hell can't she be left alone? She's old enough to take care of herself," Percy said rolling his eyes.

"There are people after her too," Ron said. "They want her dead."

"Right, well," Percy groaned. "She can't come with; my guy will only talk to the seven of us."

"I'll stay with her," Ginny said quickly. "You can tell me everything later."

Percy stared at her for a moment, then shrugged, "Do what you want Gin. We need to go get Fred and George."

Ron leaned in and kissed Hermione goodbye, and the four apparated.

"You could have left with them," Hermione said. "Harry is still here."

"Actually, Charlie said the two left in a hurry." Ginny frowned. "I'm not sure where those two have disappeared off to."

---

Harry and Draco were climbing up a set of rocks to reach a higher ground.

"Are you sure dragon's like high places?" Harry called out to Draco.

"Fairly sure," Draco said. "Either that, or they like to live really close to ground level."

Harry shook his head, but kept climbing until they reached a small ledge.

They looked down, and Harry's head twirled – they were awfully far up.

"Where to next?" Harry asked, pulling away from the edge.

"That way," Draco said, pointing to a small narrow path that lead to another cave. They had been climbing for a while, going through caves and under rock bridges and finding themselves in many dead ends.

As the two walked and concentrated on not falling, Harry brought up a question that was nagging at him.

"What happens..."Harry started, taking a moment to get his balance. "...When we get to the Dragon? How are we going to kill it?"

"I'm still working on that," Draco said. "You have any ideas?"

"Not entirely," Harry sighed. "I've saved a dragon and I've stolen a treasure piece from one, but I've never slain one."

"You saved one?" Draco asked ahead of him.

"Yeah, first year, when we all lost those points from our houses, you told on us," Harry said.

"Oh, yeah," Draco said, distracted.

The two made it onto another larger platform.

"Up again?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Draco nodded.

The two started to climb, and Harry's hands were starting to sting from the sharp rocks.

"Well, you know more about Dragon's then I do," Harry said. "How does the books you read say to slay a dragon?"

"Oh, you know," Draco said, pulling himself up into a cave. He reached down and helped Harry up. "Usually brave knights with swords and thousands of men in chain armor defeat the Dragons after a reckless fight."

"Which we have none of," Harry said.

"But we have our wands."

"Maybe we can summon some swords?" Harry said. "Or transfigure some."

"That might be a good idea," Draco nodded.

The two boys traveled along the world under, gliding up and down the canyon walls, and finding nothing but empty caves and occasionally skeleton bones.

As they started back down the canyon to search below, the two went over the spells they needed to create these objects, making sure they had them down. They wanted to be prepared.

When they reached as far down as they could go, the two were started to get heat exhausted.

"Where is it?" Draco finally yelled out a half hour later.

"I dunno," Harry panted, as they climbed up another wall. "But if we don't find it soon I'm not going to last much longer."

"I swear we've been here before," Draco said glumly. "This is just one big circling canyon. We've been all up and down here."

"Have we missed anything?" Harry asked.

"Let's try one more sweep around before we panic," Draco said, his voice on edge.

Harry could tell Draco was forcing himself to stay calm.

"Right," Harry said, exhausted.

But he wasn't so sure they'd find it on this time around either; and they didn't. Nor did they on their next sweep around.

"Okay," Draco said. "I'd say panic could be safe to feel right about now."

"Yah think?" Harry said.

"That goddamn Dragon, where can it possibly be hiding?"

"Dragon," Harry muttered, his mind racing for ideas, a thought had just struck him, but from the heat, it wasn't easily staying. "Dragon...Draco, we've only called the Dragon once, maybe we could call it."

Draco looked at him as if he was a genius, "Brilliant Harry!"

So quickly, the two called for the Dragon, it's roaring cry was heard, but it was not seen.

They two looked around for it, and Harry noticed the flames below dying down, as the Dragon rose from the flames.

---

Hermione looked at the clock again; Ron and his brothers had been gone for a very long time, about six hours actually. And she was getting extremely worried.

"Don't worry, Hermione," Ginny said. "I'm sure they're fine."

Hermione nodded, but she still couldn't shake off the feeling that she was supposed to be out there looking for him. Her mind just kept telling her that she should be with Ron, because he was in danger.

She told Ginny this, and Ginny sighed.

"I'm getting that same feeling Hermione," Ginny said. "But I could just be reading it off of you."

"Do you think so?" Hermione asked, worried.

"No, I think it's genuine. They should have been back by now," Ginny said.

"We'll give them a half hour," Hermione said. "Then we can go look for them."

"Right," Ginny nodded. "A half hour."

Hermione just pleaded silently that a half-hour wouldn't be too late.

---

"Gamers, you've found me," the Dragon said – and if the Dragon could smile, that's what it was doing. "Do you have a question first, before we begin our death match?"

"Yeah," Draco said. "How can we defeat you?"

The Dragon actually made a chuckling sound, "To defeat me, you will have to use more then just strength and courage, but also your trust and loyalty in each other."

Suddenly the Dragon let out a horrid screech, and since they were right next to the Dragon, it was even louder then before. Harry's ears rang as the Dragon snarled and then lunged at him.

Harry dodged out of the way just in time for the Dragon to miss him.

But the Dragon didn't take long to recover, and was already flapping its wings to pick itself up into the air.

Draco and Harry quickly transfigured the nearest rock into a sword, and lunged for them, this time Draco dodging out of the Dragon's way.

What the Dragon had said still rang in Harry's ears. 'Trust and Loyalty' – well, he trusted Draco completely now, so how was this supposed to work?

The Dragon hit him with the end of his tail, which luckily wasn't sharp, but very strong, and it threw him towards a wall.

To do anything in this game so far, he had always had to concentrate hard on it. So, that's what Harry decided to do now. As the Dragon breathed fire at him, and his arm was hit as he moved away, he just concentrated on his trust for Draco, concentrating on his loyalty to the boy, knowing he'd die for him if he had to.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Draco asked in horror.

Harry realized that he must have been closing his eyes, because he had to open them to see Draco looking at him concerned.

"Concentrating," Harry said.

"On what?" Draco asked, as he knocked Harry down to save him from the Dragon's teeth bearing down on him.

"You," Harry said. "Concentrate on me."

Harry wasn't quite sure if Draco would understand, but he had to force himself to concentrate before he lost all nerve from the heat and the pain from his now badly burned arm.

It took Draco a moment, but very quickly, Harry saw Draco looking very blank faced, as if he too was blocking everything else out.

To Harry's surprise and relief, the Dragon faltered, nearly hitting itself into the wall as Draco dodged it.

It turned around screeching at them, but Harry knew it was working. The Dragon lunged again, and Harry took his sword, and lunged it into the Dragon.

The Dragon let out a fierce cry, and fell, but it certainly wasn't dead; it stumbled up, but fell down again as its unstable feet slid out.

In one swift movement, Harry saw Draco take his sword and jam it into the Dragon's hard scales. The Dragon fell down giving one last breath of steam as it went lifeless.

The two boys stared at the dead Dragon's golden-red body. Its blood, which was green, was starting to stream into a pool around it.

"Harry," Draco said softly. "We did it."

"We did," Harry said nodding, but he still couldn't feel much of anything because it hadn't sunk in yet.

The two boys were lifted off their feet, and Harry shot Draco a quick confused glance before they were shot off in a flash. When Harry could see again, he saw he was in an ice cool dark cave - or maybe it was normal temperature, and it just seemed chilly in comparison to the world under. Glowing torches reflecting off a tiny golden scroll floating in mid-air that lit the dark cave.

Harry reached out, and snatched the scroll, and rolled up inside the ancient parchment was a dark redwood wand.

"This is it?" Harry asked in a quick breath, his stomach queasy being this near to the object that would destroy Voldemort.

"This is it," Draco said, wide-eyed.

A glowing door appeared in front of them, and Draco looked at it.

"We won," Draco said under his breath.

"We won," Harry nodded. "Now let's go home."

Draco nodded, and the two quickly went through the door; not upset at all that they'd never set foot in the Games again.

---

Back now in the attic, Harry had never been happier to be back home.

Harry's body still was sore from climbing and the Dragon battle, and the burn was still glistening red on his arm; and Draco quickly did a few healing spells on Harry and himself.

"We have to go," Draco said quickly. "We don't have a lot of time."

"A lot of time for what?" Harry asked.

"It's a surprise," Draco said. "But that level put us back a few hours, we're only going to have an hour before the battle begins."

"Where are we going?"

"_Surprise_, Harry," Draco said, eyes glistening. "Need anything before we go?"

Harry shook his head, double checking his pocket for the scroll and wand, and also found the Mortuus Sermo in his pocket; but he knew this wasn't the time to use it or ask about it, especially because he was anxious to find out what Draco's surprise was.

"Take my arm," Draco said. "I'll take us near there, we'll have to walk a little, but it'll be worth it."

Harry nodded and took a hold of Draco's arm.

Draco muttered a quick spell under his breath, and the two disappeared out of the attic.

---

Downstairs Ron had just entered with all his brothers trailing behind him. The house was eerily silent and still, and Ron frowned.

"Hermione?" Ron called. "Ginny?"

There was no answer.

Ron frowned, and then spotted a note on a nearby table, addressed to Harry.

_Harry,_

_We've gone out looking for Ron and his brothers, Percy stopped by to talk with them and they've been gone for seven hours. We'll be back soon._

_Hermione & Ginny._

---

Harry was told by Draco to close his eyes, so that's what he was doing; and Draco was positioning him so that he could "see everything properly."

Harry had no idea where he was, or what Draco was up too, but he was certainly intrigued.

"Alright," Draco said. "Open your eyes."

Harry did, and his mouth dropped open in amazement.

It could have been one of the most magical looking places he had ever seen; everything was in vibrant colors, the grass crisp green, and roses blood red, nothing was even a shade off of what it was supposed to be. Harry felt like he had fallen into some sort of painting. There was a large glistening waterfall pouring into a large crystal blue stream. There were a few trees, all perfectly shaped and bearing different sorts of fruit. And the sky was light blue, with a few wisps of puffy white clouds.

Draco was watching him, taking in his reaction.

"This is amazing," Harry said in bewilderment. "Where are we?"

"I don't really know," Draco said, turning towards the waterfall. "Snape brought me here, when we were in hiding."

Harry turned to Draco, love filling him, as he stared at the blonde-boy.

"You're amazing," Harry said. "This is all so wonderful."

"I knew you'd like it," Draco said smiling.

"I love it," Harry said, turning towards a flock of birds who came to a landing a few feet ahead of them.

"I just wanted to give us something happy," Draco said. "Before we had to face the war."

"It's a brilliant idea," Harry said, then paused. "How much time do we have?"

"About five minutes," Draco said. "Before I have to explain what's going to be happening."

"I wish we had more time," Harry said, frowning.

"We would have," Draco frowned. "If that stupid Dragon wasn't so impossible."

Harry grinned at Draco's hostility towards the Dragon.

"Well, we'll have to come back here – have some you and me time," Harry said slowly.

Draco's eyes passed over him, and then to the ground. "In the grass?"

Harry gave him a sly grin, "You won't have clothes on to ruin."

Draco smiled, turning slightly red, "I see."

Harry's stomach flipped at the thought of Draco naked on the ground.

"That's a bit kinky, Harry," Draco said smoothly, winking at him, and rubbing a hand down his arm.

"We'll it's less public that way," Harry said. "No-one to barge in on us."

"Cept maybe Snape," Draco said, grinning.

Harry frowned, disgusted at the thought of Snape finding them in any sort of compromising position.

"That would be awful," Harry said.

Draco laughed, "Definitely. Snape wouldn't talk to me ever again."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Harry asked.

Draco laughed at him, "Well, he did save my life."

"Fortunately for me," Harry said, with a radiant smile.

"And me," Draco smiled. "I guess I have him to thank for bringing me to you. I should send him a card."

"That says what?"

"Something sappy I'd gather," Draco said, shrugging.

"Indeed," Harry nodded. "Well, we'll just have to spell off the place then, make sure no one can come in."

"Or we could go to your place, where there's a bed," Draco toyed. "Now there's a decent idea."

"Afraid of a few grass stains?" Harry asked, jokingly.

"I'm afraid of no such thing."

"I'm sure."

"Don't believe me?" Draco asked, challenging him playfully.

"Oh, I believe you," Harry said, amused, kissing him gently on the lips.

They paused in silence, staring at each other as they pulled apart; then they turned out towards the water, embracing the beauty of the land again.

Harry forgot about the war that he would soon have to face, forgot about the fear and the pain and the loss he had for everything that had happen and would be coming. He was just lost in the moment, with Draco by his side, and he then understood that he wanted Draco with him for every moment that would be coming, because he made him feel so at peace, yet as if he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. Excitement mixed with passion, it was a wonderful mix.

"It's about that time, Harry" Draco said, breaking the blissful silence.

Harry nodded, and prepared to listen to Draco's instructions.

"I'm going to meet you at Godric's Hollow," Draco said, staring at him. "Do you know where that is?"

Harry nodded; he knew because he had talked with Lupin about it when he had initially wanting to visit Godric's Hollow.

"Good," Draco said. "You're going to meet me there with your army and the Weasley's by your side, okay?"

"Alright," Harry said. "What happens then?"

"Then we fight," Draco said. "And we will have the Weasley's use their powers against Voldemort, and we will kill him."

---

Harry entered back into Grimmauld Place, his stomach churning in anxiety and fear. He had to get everyone together; this is what they had been planning for.

He noticed movement in the living room, and Harry went in to find Ron setting someone on the couch. Harry looked closer and noticed it was Ginny, but she had a large bump on her forehead and she was knocked out.

"Ron?" Harry asked.

Ron looked up, tears sparkling in his eyes, "They've taken her, Harry. They've kidnapped Hermione."


	24. The Battle Against Voldemort

Harry blinked a few times, hoping he had misheard his best friend. Ron quickly stood up moving away from Ginny.

"Harry," Ron said. "I have to find her."

Harry nodded slowly, "Do you know where they took her?"

"Ginny overheard them before she fell unconscious, so I sort of know," Ron said, looking distracted.

Harry sighed, he had to get Ron to Godric's Hollow with him, but he certainly wasn't going to leave Hermione in the grasps of those death eaters.

"Ron," Harry said quickly. "Find her as quickly as you can. I need you to meet me in Godric's Hollow as soon as possible, alright?"

Ron nodded without question and immediately apparated from the spot.

Harry put a hand through his hair, silently pleading for Hermione.

"Harry what is-" Bill Weasley's voice filled the room. "Ginny?"

Bill rushed over to her.

"Someone knocked her out," Harry explained. "They took Hermione."

Harry felt lost, as Bill coaxed Ginny awake.

"We have to get going," Harry said in a trance like voice. "Can you get all your brothers here and Lupin? I'll wake her."

Bill looked at him for a moment, "What's going on, Harry?"

"We're going to war."

Bill was silent after that, and he left quickly to find his brothers.

"Gin," Harry whispered to her. "Wake up."

It took awhile, but he finally got her to stir, her eyes opened groggily.

"Harry?" Ginny grumbled. "Ow! My head."

Ginny pressed a head against her forehead.

A loud rush of footsteps was heard and the entire Weasley gang – lacking Ron – came into the room.

"I couldn't find Ron," Bill said quickly.

"He's not here," Harry said slowly. "Someone heal Ginny."

Bill came over and pulled out his wand, muttering a spell.

"What's going on Harry?" Ginny asked confused.

There was a knock at the door, and Harry pulled it open to see Lupin.

"It's time," Harry said to Lupin. "Get everyone and meet me in Godric's Hollow."

Lupin nodded and disappeared.

Harry checked his pockets again to make sure he still had everything, he did.

"Alright," Harry said turning to the other's. "We have to leave, come on."

"How are you getting there, Harry?" Charlie asked concerned.

"I can apparate well enough when I have to," Harry said shortly. "Let's move."

Harry had apparated home safely, and he was just hoping he could do that again.

---

The old rusting building was only lit by a few torches around the walls. Hermione had been awake for only a few minutes, and was trying to get her bearings, but she didn't recognize anything.

She was alone; her legs and arms tied to an old chair and a gag in her mouth. Her head was throbbing from where she had smacked it on the ground after Pansy knocked her out.

The air was musty, full of rot and mold, and there was movement in the rafters from a few large bats.

She heard voices coming near, and they were in an argument.

"I'm not using that spell again," came a boys voice – Blaise. "I refuse!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Pansy voice rang clear. "Because I refuse to use an unforgivable curse."

"Why?" Millicent asked, as the door banged open.

"Because I just can't do it," Pansy said slowly.

Hermione noticed the fear Pansy had in her voice. Pansy was afraid to kill Hermione herself. She was hoping that Hermione would take her own life for her, but that wasn't going to happen. She just had to keep hoping that Harry, Ron or anyone would find their note, and Ginny would help them get to her.

"How about the imperius curse?" Blaise asked.

"Are you going to do it?" Pansy hissed at him.

Blaise didn't answer, which made Hermione assume that he said no.

"Get down the books," Pansy said, and Hermione head her footsteps coming nearer.

Hermione thought about closing her eyes, pretending to be asleep still, but Pansy might try some force to wake her up, so Hermione thought better of it.

"Granger," Pansy said, coming into view. "I see your awake, and bleeding all over yourself, isn't that a shame?"

Pansy laughed. Hermione realized her head must be bleeding, and that's when she noticed the line of blood that ran off down her shoulder.

"Well, don't worry," Pansy sneered. "We'll get you patched up. You don't have to worry about bleeding when you're dead."

Hermione glared at her through her gag, wanting to curse her.

"Pansy," Millicent called. "I think I know a good spell."

---

Godric's Hollow – it was just as Harry had dreamed it. A run down house, splintering wood broken windows, surrounded by a large empty field and near the edge of a massive forest.

He appeared outside the house, among a pile of old leaves, and he was still intact. He glanced about as the other six Weasley's appeared around him. He found Draco further off in the distance, glancing into the forest.

Percy Weasley opened his mouth to talk to him, and Harry put up a silencing hand, heading towards Draco. A cool breeze brushed passed him, making him shiver.

"They're coming," Draco said, not turning around.

"Draco," Harry said solemnly.

Draco turned around frowning.

"What? What happened?"

"Hermione's been captured," Harry started. "Ron went after her."

There was a flash of fear in Draco's gray loving eyes.

"He what?" Draco asked, unsure of what he heard.

"Ron's not here," Harry said. "Is this going to work without him?"

A moment of eerie shivering silence. Harry tried to read Draco, but nothing.

"I hope so," was Draco's soft reply.

There were leave crunching footsteps approaching them.

"Harry?" Ginny said, moving next to them. "What's going on?"

Draco glanced at her, and then to the rest of the Weasley's.

"Follow me," Draco told her. "Harry stay here and keep on the look out. When Lupin comes, have them spread out."

Harry nodded and watched Draco lead all the Weasley's into the old house.

His fingers and nose were going numb from the cold, but he wasn't worried about that. He was only worried about getting everyone here out alive – and he knew that wasn't at all likely.

When Lupin appeared, so did the others. Many of which Harry had never seen. They were appearing all over the place, people willing to risk their lives to save the magical world – and probably the Muggle world too for that matter.

Everyone was silent, a few were shivering – not just from the cold, but also from fear; and Harry and Lupin delegated orders to them.

Harry heard the door to the house snap shut, and he turned to see Draco heading towards him.

"We're set," Draco said. "When we're ready, we just have to call them out."

"How do we know when it's the right time?" Harry asked.

"When we've gotten Voldemort alone," Draco said. "We call them, and then one of us will read the spell on the scroll using that wand."

"Aright," Harry said, shivering again.

Draco squeezed his hand, "We can do this. You can do this."

Harry nodded, "Thanks."

Draco's nose was red from the cold, and his fingers were even icier on his hand then his own, but Draco looked determined, he had never seen anyone looked so certain before.

Harry knew there was a lot he wanted to Draco about, about their future. He wanted to tell him how much he meant to him, that he was possibly completely in love with him. But the leering doom and torment that was soon approached him, stop his words.

If they survived – no, when they survived, Harry would be able to tell him everything, plan their future, and be with him happily and peacefully for the rest of his life with no more war, no more pain, no more decisions.

Draco turned to a woman facing away from them who was standing in the middle of the field.

"You! Move away from there, unless you want to be killed straight off!"

The woman turned around, it was Aiyana.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Aiyana said, amusement in her voice. "But I believe I'll be just fine." Her eyes flashed over Harry and Draco's hands, which were entwined together, and she shot them a grin as she turned back around.

---

Pansy, Millicent and Blaise had set up a cauldron, and were working on it diligently. They had been completely ignoring Hermione for the past ten minutes as they set to work on Millicent's spell.

Hermione was trying to figure a way out of here, but even with her cleverness, she couldn't come up with anything; because even if she got herself untied – which wasn't likely – it was still three to one, and she didn't have her wand.

"Alright," Blaise said. "We let it sit for ten minutes before we can do anything to it."

The three moved away from their work, and Blaise came over to Hermione.

"So," Blaise said. "Comfortable?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, because that was all she could do in a retort.

Blaise pattered her head, mocking her, and then moved away to help Pansy with something.

Millicent let out a loud shriek.

"What?" Pansy asked.

"Something moved out there!" Millicent squeaked.

"Oh jeez," Pansy groaned annoyed. "It was probably the wind."

"I dunno," Millicent said.

Hermione begged desperately that it was someone here to save her.

"Go check it out," Pansy insisted.

"Someone come with me," Millicent said in a whiney tone.

---

If you looked casually at the large open battlefield, it looked like no one was there; except for Harry and a few others no one was out in the open, Draco noticed as he looked around. They had their army well hidden, prepared for the Death Eaters and Voldemorts arrival, which would be very soon if everything went to plan.

But so far, not everything had went to plan. The news about Weasley running off to save his girlfriend was possibly the worst mess up of all. Draco didn't have a clue what would happen if they did the spell without the seventh Weasley, but he guessed they'd find out.

Pansy had indeed made him regret his decision, she had made him pay. Pansy had gotten everything she wanted and could have possibly helped in killing off both he and Harry. Hopefully, it wouldn't come down to that; he believed in Harry's strength to keep going, and he believed in his own determination.

Everything was silent except the soft wind as it rustled through the trees. Draco stood, holding Harry's hand, waiting for any sight of the Death Easters. Harry shivered slightly next to him, and Draco tried to reassure him with a soft squeeze of the hand.

A cry shot through the trees, shrill and loud, "Confundus!"

A memory charm passed by them, and narrowly missed Lupin's head. Draco frowned, the fact that they were even using little spells like memory wiping ones, meant this could turn out to be nastier then he had pictured it.

"Incarcerate!" another spell shot through the trees.

This time the spell hit a woman, she fell down as ropes began to tie around her, binding her. Someone rushed to help.

Draco quickly shouted the Conjunctivitis spell into the trees, aiming to hit someone.

More spells shot in and out of the trees, and soon, Draco heard their footsteps, at least a few of the Death Eaters were moving into open range.

They came in a hoard of twenty, advancing quickly; and on queue, two dozen warriors from Harry's army stepped foreword, shouting more curses.

Harry dropped Draco's hand as a Death Eater moved towards them.

"Locomotor mortis!" Harry shouted the spell.

The Death Eater defended it away.

"Expelliarmus!" the Death Eater shouted at Harry, and Harry's wand flew from his hand.

Draco who had been about to cast a spell on the Death Eater, was suddenly knocked down by another who had ditched it's wand and was hitting Draco's stomach with it's fists. Draco kicked it off, pulling up his wand, shouting "Obliviate!"

The second Death Eater flew off backwards in a large explosion of dirt and grass.

Harry was still dueling with the first Death Eater.

"Imperio!" the Death Eater growled, but to Draco's surprise, its wand was on Draco, not Harry, even though Harry had been attacking it.

His mind went blank, feeling a strange bind to the Death Eater, the Death Eater who was undoubtedly his father.

"Draco," the Death Eater hissed. "Kill him. Kill Harry Potter."

---

Time had passed and Blaise and Millicent still hadn't come back in. Pansy had been working on the spell without them; but as time passed Hermione could tell Pansy was getting worried about them.

"Where the hell have those two taken off to?" Pansy hissed under her breath, loud enough for Hermione to hear.

Pansy stood to go out and look, when Millicent and Blaise opened the door.

"There's nothing there," Blaise said annoyed. "She made me search everything three times."

"It's better to be safe then sorry," Millicent said grumpily.

Millicent may be annoying, but she was thorough; Hermione's hope fell when they confirmed there was nothing out there.

"Is it almost done?" Millicent asked.

"Almost," Pansy said.

"Good," Blaise murmured, he came around to look at Hermione. "Granger, you hear that? You'll be dead in no time at all."

Hermione tuned him out, wishing and beginning silently for someone to save her. She hated being the damsel in distress.

---

Draco felt his wand arm beginning to lift towards Harry, but he fought it with all his might. He had had this curse on him before; he had fended it off before. He could do it again; he _had _to do it again. Harry's green eyes were shining at him briefly before they turned away.

Harry lunged at the Death Eater, which caught Lucius off guard. Draco watched, trying to break off the curse; he wasn't going to kill Harry. Something snapped in his mind, and his was free.

Lucius pushed Harry off him, throwing him to the ground, Draco watched that in horror.

"Draco," Lucius growled. "You've betrayed me."

"You catch on quick," Draco said sarcastically.

"Do not speak to your father like that!" Lucius towered over him.

Draco felt small, felt like he could crawl into a hole, and be forced to obey his father again – but he couldn't do that this time, he had to be strong.

"The Dark Lord will see to you," his Father hissed. "You will die, Draco, for _this_." Lucius spat at Harry who was struggling to his feet. "How does that make you feel?"

"Feels pretty damn good," Draco hissed.

Harry snatched up his wand, but didn't attack, he knew this was Draco's fight.

"You are a disgrace to this family," Lucius hissed. "I'm ashamed to call you my son."

"Stupefy!" Draco shouted at his father, tired of every word that was coming out of his mouth.

The unconscious Lucius fell to the ground, and Harry gave him a good kick in the ribs.

Draco turned his wand on his father again…To kill him?

_Can I kill him?_

After everything his father had put him through, he thought it would have been easy. But he hesitated, staring at the unconscious body as shouts of spells and screams of pain rang throughout the field. His love for his father was inherently genetic, he couldn't help that; but his hatred was genuinely earned, and Draco realized that death was too much justice for the man's black soul.

Draco turned to see the destruction that was happening around them. People fighting, screaming, blood staining the dirt.

He turned for Harry, and found the boy face to face with a wild looking Death Eater who had her hood down, Bellatrix Lestrange.

---

Harry stared at Bellatrix, his hatred for her swelling, making his head pound. She killed Sirius, she helped Lucius kill Arthur and Molly, and she had attacked Charlie Weasley. She had taken away the only family he had ever known. She was going to pay.

Blood rushed through him as he rose up his wand - he changed his mind halfway, and punched her hard in the face, straight in the nose. She gave out a horrid cry, as there was a loud _crunch_ on impact.

Bellatrix's hands moved to her nose as she moved backwards, and Harry's fist stung from the pain, but that didn't matter.

If Harry had had time to think before lunging at her again, he might have thought about restraining himself, about not allowing himself to become a murderer. He might have thought about how 'hot headed Harry' could get him into a lot more trouble then it was worth. But he didn't think about it.

He elbowed her in the gut; she was going to pay for his pain. Lucius was taken care of, it was her turn now.

Bellatrix eyes watered fiercely from the pain, she was trying to fend him off, but he had overpowered her.

"Harry!" a shout from Draco broke through his rage. Draco's voice sounded bewildered.

Harry rose up his wand, prepared to do any spell that would cause the most harm to this wretched woman.

"Harry, stop it. Harry, honey, please." Draco was pulling him off Bellatrix with great force.

Harry struggled, trying to reach for Bellatrix again, but Draco retrained him. Harry looked up at the boys face, Draco was staring at him eyes full of concern.

As Draco set Harry away, the boy raised up his wand, shouting, "Impedimenta!" The spell hit Bellatrix square in the chest and she froze completely.

Harry stared at her, and then turned to Draco.

Draco didn't say anything to him, just ran a quick hand down his face before he turned away to fight again.

Harry looked back at the motionless Bellatrix and forced himself to move away. He heard a loud cry, a grotesque icy voice that Harry recognized.

"Potter!"

---

Hermione felt a sharp pain in her back as Pansy stuck a needle into her back that would inject the strange liquid they had cooked up into her blood stream.

Hermione held her breath.

"Petrificus Totalis!" came a shout from the window. Pansy fell down in the full body bind, Millicent let out a shrill scream that rang in Hermione ears, and Hermione caught sight of Ron bursting through the door.

Hermione shouted his name into the gag, but nothing but a low jumbled murmur came out.

Ron still had his wand out, pointing at Blaise and Millicent.

"I told you!" Millicent screeched.

"Shut it!" Ron yelled.

"Obliviate!" Blaise screamed at Ron.

Ron dodged the spell, shouting one at Blaise, "Expelliarmus!"

Blaise's wand flew out of his hand, and Ron took the opportunity to curse him, "Petrificus Totalis!"

Blaise fell down in the full body bind next to Pansy on the floor. Millicent stared wide-eyed, like a deer in the head-lights, staring at Ron.

Ron muttered the Furnunculus curse upon her, and boils stared to appear across Millicent's skin, she screamed out, trying to cure herself. and Ron rushed to Hermione, untying her.

Hermione flung her arms around him, tears in her eyes, so thankful for Ron, loving him desperately.

"You okay?" Ron asked softly, gazing at her bleeding head.

"I'll be okay," she said.

"Ferula," Ron said the bandaging spell, and pulled out the needle from Hermione back.

Hermione flinched from the pain, but forever thankful that she was alright.

"Thanks," Hermione said. "What are we doing with them?"

Ron paused for a moment, "Let's tie them up."

Hermione nodded, taking Ron's hand, and kissing him passionately.

"You saved me, Ron," Hermione said.

Ron smiled, and kissed her again.

---

Harry swung around to see Voldemort, staring at him with a very creepy smile along his pasty white face. Voldemort looked just as evil as before, exactly as Harry remembered seeing him, those haunting eyes, and slits for a nose.

Harry held up his wand on him, staring at Voldemort determinedly – he wasn't going to seem weak, not this time, not ever again.

He felt someone come up next to him, their robes brushing his icy skin; he jumped but saw it was Draco.

"Draco," Voldemort said with a laugh. "You are a foolish boy."

"No more foolish then you," Draco hissed.

Voldemort stared at him, eyes looming, an evil, teeth baring look of hatred.

"Do you think we'd really start a war believing we couldn't destroy you?" Draco hissed.

Voldemort then laughed again, "Destroy me? The greatest wizard of all time, who even bested Albus Dumbledore himself?"

"I'm afraid he bested you," Draco said coolly.

Harry glanced at Draco, taunting the Dark Lord seemed to be all but daunting to Draco.

Draco's head tilted towards Aiyana, who was in battle with a Death Eater, and clearly winning.

Voldemorts eyes flashed to her, then back to Draco, not saying a word. Harry had no clue what Voldemort was thinking, but now was the time for the spell.

Voldemort raised up his wand, about to cast the killing curse.

"Silencio!" Harry shouted quickly before Voldemort had a chance to speak.

Harry pulled out the other wand and spell, and Draco's eyes surveyed him in a quick glance that Harry couldn't comprehend, but he knew the boy had a look of fear.

Voldemort fended off Harry's spell, growling out.

Harry heard Draco scream to the nearby house, "Now!"

Then in one quick confusing moment, Draco snatched the wand and scroll from Harry's hands. Harry, confused, tried to snatch it back, but Draco stopped him with a freezing charm.

Harry's mind rang out in fear.

_What the hell is going on? What is he doing? And why is he looking at me like that?_

The look was so apologetic, full of longing, fear, and so much love it blew Harry away – it was the look that was so familiar from his dream.

Draco opened his mouth, and in a warm heartfelt whisper, he heard the words that filled the whole world around him, "I love you."

Everything was in slow motion – no, slower then that, everything was as if it would never end again – but really everything was happening too fast.

Draco turned away from Harry just as the six Weasley's surrounded Voldemort. Draco aimed the wand at Voldemort, just as Harry fought his way free from the spell – he didn't know how he did it, but he was able to move. He rushed to Draco just as a large golden beam shot out of the wand, hitting into Voldemort's stomach. Everything went deadly silent as Draco flew back, flying motionless into Harry's out stretched arms.

_**Author's Message:**_

**_The next chapter is coming soon, I promise…Hope you liked this chapter, thanks RS._**


	25. Mortuus Sermo

It's one of those moments, when you loose sight of everything but the one most important thing in your life. Harry fell to the ground with Draco in his arms, as Voldemort's screams of pain and horror were shut out from his mind.

"Draco!" Harry screamed, trying to wake the boy.

But Draco didn't wake, his body stiff, his eyes closed...his heart not beating.

Harry cried out, screaming no! Screaming it a thousand times, every head turned away from the destructing Voldemort and onto the screaming boy.

"Wake up," Harry cried, wet hot tears streaming down his face.

He couldn't be dead, because he hadn't told him goodbye. Couldn't be dead, because he still had so much to tell him. Couldn't be dead, because Harry couldn't endear that.

"Please!" Harry's body shook as held onto the boy. "Wake up!"

But Draco didn't wake. And Harry almost forgot to breathe, to do anything but cry.

Draco couldn't die for him, that's not how it was supposed to happen. Draco was supposed to live, live and be with Harry. Draco deserved so much more then this, more then to die at the hands of his enemy.

He felt a pressure on his shoulder, Aiyana's fallen face was looking down at him, hand on his shoulder.

"Harry," she said.

But Harry ignored her, ignored everyone, Draco was dead, and everything lost its meaning. Aiyana wasn't the woman with answers, she wasn't the great man, Albus Dumbledore, nor was she the old man Dumbledore, who he had been so angry at all those times ago. She wasn't the Dumbledore he cried over for months, and she wasn't the one who brought him back to Hogwarts. She was just a shapeless being, an annoyance in his mind.

A century could have past, and Harry would not have known the difference. His sadness stopped everything and everyone. Aiyana left his side. He didn't know when she did, but she didn't come back. And Harry didn't move.

The voices in the background were just hushed murmurs, all gibberish, all pointless.

A shadow fall over him, but he didn't look up.

"Harry," Ron's voice was filled with sorrow, and terror.

Ron spoke again, but this time, he spoke in silence; because Harry chose it to be so, he didn't want to hear anyone tell him it was going to be alright, because they were lying.

Everything replayed in Harry's mind, over and over is if stuck on repeat. The words that Draco muttered before hurling himself into death, made deeper wounds in him then the Dragon had ever made.

The words, the words. Of all the things Draco could say as his parting words. These were them.

When you die, you want your last words to be memorable, and oh yes, Draco's would stick with him for the rest of his life - the words he had never managed to tell him, the words he should have said when he had the chance.

He never told anyone those three words – never in his lifetime; but never before had they hit him so deeply before. He loved Draco, loved Draco with all his heart, and he'd never ever be able to speak the words to him.

The only person he ever truly loved was gone.

No one spoke to him again, or if they did, Harry didn't know about it.

He sat, hugging the boy's body, as if he could bring life back into it.

The air breezed through Harry's hair; and quite literally, everything stopped moving, everything that is, but Harry; a low hum was emanating from his pocket; he frowned, looking down, and reached in and pulled out the Mortuus Sermo. The golden jagged ball was glowing, bright and blinding. Harry blinked a few times, wondering was it was doing.

The Mortuus Sermo turned hot in his hand as it started to flash on and off, faster and faster; Harry dropped it, and it stuck into the dirt, still flashing like mad, but Harry couldn't look away.

The humming grew louder, and still nothing in the background moved. A bright light became focused around the center, forming a ring around the strange object, and a loud cry as a blinding flash of white sprayed out across the land.

Harry blinked frantically, trying to see again, he turned his head up, and his tear soaked jaw fell open. Draco was standing in front of him, but it was not Draco...It was a faded version of him, he had color but everything was so faint he looked almost gray, almost transparent.

The boy was looking down at him, looking worried, and honest and good.

Nothing happened for a moment, Draco didn't move, Harry didn't move – Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"D-Draco?" Harry finally sputtered out.

Draco nodded assuring Harry that was him; then he turned out towards the war field, and back to Harry.

"Harry, love," Draco said. "We won."

Draco's words were soft, empowering, but they didn't effect Harry.

"You're dead," Harry said, tears filling his eyes again as he looked down at Draco's lifeless body.

"You're alive," Draco said softly.

"Why?" Harry croaked. A moment of silence, before Harry looked at Draco directly, "I can't do this on my own."

"Can't do what, Harry?" Draco asked, his transparent body sitting down next to him. "Can't live?"

Harry didn't answer.

Draco shook his head, "What did I die for, if not for you to live?"

Harry still was silent, closing himself up.

"Harry, please," Draco said. "Don't go away from me."

Harry's eyes flashed over to Draco.

"You went away from me," Harry said. This felt like a dream, everything was so lost, so wrong.

Harry heard Draco's sigh.

"I don't know what to tell you," Draco said. "But you can't loose yourself, you are everything to me."

And he was everything to Harry; but that everything was gone. The Draco he was looking at, wasn't really alive, wasn't breathing, wasn't flesh.

"You're a lie."

"No, I'm a memory," Draco said. "I'm Draco in essence, in soul, everything but my physical body."

Harry glanced down at Draco's body, and back up to him.

"You're going to be alright," Draco muttered softly.

Harry just stared at him, Draco was lying, there was no way he was going to be alright.

"I need you to be alright."

Harry's heart skipped a beat, he looked away from Draco, at the cheering victors, they were all so happy. He saw Ron with Hermione; they were standing in the distance, holding each other, they were in love. All this frozen, capturing Harry.

"I know what I should have told you," Harry said, tears burned down his cheeks. "I should have told you a long time ago."

Draco whispered something in another language, something strange but hypnotic.

"I love you, Draco."

Draco paused for a moment, taking in the words, "I know you do."

"No you don't," Harry said, shaking his head profusely. "I never told you, it's too late."

"It's not," Draco said. "You just told me right now."

Harry breathed in the chilly air, hoping Draco forgave him for not telling him when he was alive.

"Harry," Draco said. "It had to be me – it wasn't time for you to go."

"It wasn't time for you to go either!" Harry said upset.

"I've done a lot of horrible things," Draco said. "It was time."

"No!" Harry shouted, refusing to believe that.

"Please," Draco said. "I don't have a lot of time on this plane of existence. I want you to believe me; know that this wasn't your fault – there was nothing you could do. Know that I love you, and I'll love you no matter what happens in your future."

Harry's heart swelled as Draco spoke, and he had the sensation as if he had just jumped out of an airplane. He felt like he was freefalling.

"I believe you," Harry said.

"Good," Draco said, putting a hand around him.

But the horrible thing was, Harry couldn't feel him, couldn't even feel the ice cold sensation that happened when he passed through a ghost, because Draco wasn't a ghost. He was a memory.

There were two Draco's in front of him, one who couldn't move, and the other he couldn't touch.

Everything was horribly off, but with Draco, even only faintly by his side, everything was okay for a moment; and he embraced it for the time being, because he knew that it wouldn't last long.

Harry wanted to tell him everything. Tell him what he wanted to; before Harry would never see him again. A pang of hurt jabbed him, but he forced himself to keep strong.

"I thought I would want to be with you forever," Harry said, not looking at Draco, but he knew Draco was listening intently. "I thought we'd grow old, be a family, be in love, forever."

Harry paused a moment to glance up at Draco who was watching him closely.

"I thought I could finally love someone – tell them everything, believe in them. You would love me back, believe in me in the same goddamn fairy tale way."

"Like happily ever after?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded, impressed that Draco actually knew what a fairy tale was.

"No such thing," Draco said. "There's just happiness, and that always comes with sadness, without it, we'd never know what true happiness is all about."

Harry listened to Draco's words, pulling them all in. Even now, Harry couldn't understand how Draco always saw everything with two sides - even though it was staring at him in the face. Voldemort was dead, no more terror, but Draco was dead, life was never going to be happy again for Harry.

"I'm going to miss you," Harry said, slowly. "I don't know how I'm..."

_How I'm going to keep going on living._

"...How I'm going to cope."

"One day at a time," Draco said. "I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

Even if that were true, he'd never be able to hold him again, touch him, kiss him, even smell him again.

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Harry, did you know your scar is gone?" Draco asked calmly.

Harry reached for his forehead, "What? How?"

"Actually, it's my doing," Draco said guiltily.

"Huh?"

"I did a spell that connected a healing charm to Voldemort to you. I did it so that when he was destroyed, you wouldn't be the Boy Who Lived or the Boy Who Saved the World; you'd just be Harry – like you were with me."

Harry stared at him, loving him more and more, his heart aching wanting to kiss him.

"You could blend in, be invisible if you wanted," Draco whispered. "I hope you're okay with that."

"It's the best gift anyone has ever given me," Harry muttered, feeling forever grateful. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what having no lighting bolt scar on his forehead would mean to him.

"I didn't do it to the X on your chest," Draco said slowly. "I couldn't because Voldemort wasn't directly connected with it."

Harry didn't care, no one would see a scar on his chest. It would be a part of him, connecting him with Draco forever.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said honestly.

Draco smiled at him, and Harry realized this could possibly be the last smile he'd ever see on Draco.

"Harry, could you do me a favor?" Draco seemed serious.

"Anything."

"Bring me back for my funeral."

Harry paused, unsure of what Draco had just said, "What?"

"I want to see who comes."

Harry couldn't help himself but laugh, even through the pain; Draco was the only one who could joke, even through his death.

"You know," Draco said, eyes turning towards his body. "I really am stunningly handsome,"

"God, yes!" Harry said eyes large from crying.

Draco smiled, and Harry watched him captivated in his beauty, his grace. Then a few moments passed, as they stared at each other.

Draco sighed, "I have to go."

Harry didn't say anything, he couldn't because, he'd beg him not to go; he'd get himself worked up again, when there was nothing he could do. Harry just nodded his head, as Draco kissed his forehead, and he felt nothing.

There was another bright flash, Draco was gone, and everything moved again. Harry bent down to look for the Mortuus Sermo, but it wasn't in the ground. He did a double take, but it still wasn't there. He reached into his pocket and found it inside; bewildered he pulled it out, staring at it.

Harry froze. Was everything that just happened, an apparition? A figment of Harry's lost mind? An illusion to fill the hole that was created in Harry's heart? Did it matter?

Harry stared at Draco's body, and he heard Ron's advancing footsteps.

Harry, exhausted, pulled himself to his feet, and faced Ron.

"Harry-" Ron started, and then his mouth fell open, staring at Harry's face. "What happened to your scar?"

THE END

_**Author's Message:**_

**_Yes, I indeed had to try ending the story on that word. Well, I hope you didn't hate it. I hope you enjoyed - I enjoyed writing it, and I loved reading all your lovely reviews and helpful critique. _**

**_For all of you who are not fond of an unhappy ending – I guess neither am I because I have the first chapter of the sequel up. Go check it out if you so wish. ) _**

_**Thanks for reading,**_

_**RentSerenity**_


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